JPMorgan Chase & Co. Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Stock

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) had its target price increased by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $115.00 to $150.00 in a research note published on Friday,MarketScreener reports.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on TSLA. Guggenheim restated a “sell” rating and issued a $175.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Tesla from $400.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Tesla from $375.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Glj Research restated a “sell” rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $440.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a report on Friday, September 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and eight have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Tesla has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $343.43.

Tesla Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ TSLA opened at $429.83 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.43 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 248.46, a PEG ratio of 15.15 and a beta of 2.08. Tesla has a 52 week low of $212.11 and a 52 week high of $488.54. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $364.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $321.39. The company has a current ratio of 2.04, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.40 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $22.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.18 billion. Tesla had a net margin of 6.54% and a return on equity of 7.98%. Tesla’s revenue was down 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.52 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Tesla will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Tesla

In related news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $292.89, for a total value of $1,171,560.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 5,924 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,735,080.36. This trade represents a 40.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director James R. Murdoch sold 120,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.29, for a total transaction of $42,034,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 697,031 shares in the company, valued at $244,162,988.99. The trade was a 14.69% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 208,606 shares of company stock worth $77,360,462. Company insiders own 19.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Tesla

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Means Investment CO. Inc. grew its position in Tesla by 37.7% in the first quarter. Means Investment CO. Inc. now owns 23,089 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $5,984,000 after acquiring an additional 6,323 shares in the last quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. grew its position in Tesla by 3.1% in the first quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 22,467 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $5,823,000 after acquiring an additional 670 shares in the last quarter. Siren L.L.C. acquired a new stake in Tesla in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,332,000. Zuckerman Investment Group LLC grew its position in Tesla by 6.9% in the first quarter. Zuckerman Investment Group LLC now owns 12,748 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $3,304,000 after acquiring an additional 826 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Keystone Global Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Tesla in the first quarter valued at approximately $594,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Tesla Company Profile

Tesla, Inc designs, develops, manufactures, leases, and sells electric vehicles, and energy generation and storage systems in the United States, China, and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Automotive, and Energy Generation and Storage. The Automotive segment offers electric vehicles, as well as sells automotive regulatory credits; and non-warranty after-sales vehicle, used vehicles, body shop and parts, supercharging, retail merchandise, and vehicle insurance services.