Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Downgraded to Neutral Rating by Bank of America

Bank of America lowered shares of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report report published on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. Bank of America currently has $490.00 price objective on the electric vehicle producer’s stock, up from their previous price objective of $400.00.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Tesla from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Phillip Securities downgraded Tesla from a “moderate sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Roth Mkm upgraded Tesla from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $380.00 in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Tesla from $195.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on Tesla from $254.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $295.69.

Tesla Price Performance

Shares of Tesla stock opened at $394.36 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.27 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 108.04, a P/E/G ratio of 10.80 and a beta of 2.30. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $368.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $277.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.37 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.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Tesla

In other Tesla news, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $352.54, for a total value of $35,254,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,903,716. This trade represents a 94.88 % 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 hyperlink. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.76, for a total transaction of $1,007,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 105,032 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,442,856.32. The trade was a 3.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 514,886 shares of company stock valued at $169,393,831. 20.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Connable Office Inc. raised its holdings in Tesla by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Connable Office Inc. now owns 12,872 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $3,368,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. grew its stake in shares of Tesla by 4.4% in the third quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 908 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $238,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Holistic Financial Partners lifted its stake in Tesla by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Holistic Financial Partners now owns 4,055 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $1,061,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Sherrill & Hutchins Financial Advisory Inc boosted its holdings in Tesla by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sherrill & Hutchins Financial Advisory Inc now owns 3,058 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $800,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Altman Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Tesla by 0.4% in the third quarter. Altman Advisors Inc. now owns 10,754 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $2,814,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.