Stifel Nicolaus Cuts Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Price Target to $455.00

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) had its target price cut by Stifel Nicolaus from $474.00 to $455.00 in a research note released on Monday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a buy rating on the electric vehicle producer’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Tesla from $515.00 to $430.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Benchmark began coverage on Tesla in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $475.00 target price for the company. TD Cowen upgraded Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $180.00 to $388.00 in a research report on Friday, March 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “cautious” rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, HSBC dropped their target price on shares of Tesla from $165.00 to $130.00 and set a “reduce” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Tesla has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $317.75.

Tesla Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:TSLA opened at $259.16 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $833.59 billion, a PE ratio of 127.04, a PEG ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Tesla has a 1-year low of $138.80 and a 1-year high of $488.54. The business’s 50 day moving average is $317.98 and its 200-day moving average is $323.21.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.08). Tesla had a return on equity of 10.31% and a net margin of 7.26%. Sell-side analysts predict that Tesla will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Tesla

In related news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $413.56, for a total transaction of $2,894,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 108,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,063,565.40. The trade was a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 112,390 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $384.04, for a total transaction of $43,162,255.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 85,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,643,400. The trade was a 56.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 477,228 shares of company stock worth $166,849,043. 20.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Tesla

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in shares of Tesla by 79.5% during the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 70 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Horrell Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Tesla by 75.6% during the 4th quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. GS Investments Inc. lifted its stake in Tesla by 193.3% in the fourth quarter. GS Investments Inc. now owns 88 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Navigoe LLC acquired a new position in shares of Tesla in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Tesla during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. Institutional investors own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

About Tesla

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.