Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Stock

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) had its target price hoisted by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $310.00 to $400.00 in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the electric vehicle producer’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price suggests a potential upside of 2.62% from the stock’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on TSLA. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Tesla from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Tesla from $350.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on shares of Tesla from $254.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Tesla from $236.00 to $238.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a research report on Monday, November 18th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $250.84.

Tesla Stock Performance

Shares of TSLA opened at $389.79 on Tuesday. Tesla has a 52 week low of $138.80 and a 52 week high of $404.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.84. The company has a market capitalization of $1.25 trillion, a PE ratio of 106.79, a PEG ratio of 12.64 and a beta of 2.36. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $288.09 and its 200 day moving average price is $240.67.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.14. Tesla had a net margin of 13.07% and a return on equity of 10.24%. The business had revenue of $25.18 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.53 earnings per share. Tesla’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Tesla will post 1.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,606 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $374.21, for a total transaction of $975,191.26. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,775,792.65. The trade was a 2.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.02, for a total value of $34,602,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,868,508. This trade represents a 94.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 522,886 shares of company stock valued at $171,393,831. 20.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tesla

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of TSLA. World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 1,248.9% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 199,229 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $52,124,000 after purchasing an additional 184,459 shares in the last quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Tesla by 59.2% in the third quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 117,457 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $30,593,000 after purchasing an additional 43,685 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in Tesla by 1.2% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 144,482 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $37,801,000 after purchasing an additional 1,741 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC grew its position in Tesla by 3.3% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 309,382 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $80,944,000 after purchasing an additional 9,919 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tyler Stone Wealth Management lifted its position in Tesla by 109.6% during the 3rd quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management now owns 9,425 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $2,466,000 after buying an additional 4,929 shares in the last quarter. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.