Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Price Target Lowered to $450.00 at Piper Sandler

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) had its price objective lowered by Piper Sandler from $500.00 to $450.00 in a report released on Thursday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Piper Sandler currently has an overweight rating on the electric vehicle producer’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley restated a “top pick” rating and set a $430.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Benchmark began coverage on shares of Tesla in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $475.00 target price for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Tesla from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $425.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird decreased their price target on Tesla from $440.00 to $370.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $404.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a research report on Monday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Tesla has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $319.56.

Tesla Trading Up 0.2 %

Tesla stock opened at $236.26 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $338.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $319.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 1.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $759.93 billion, a PE ratio of 115.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50. Tesla has a 12-month low of $138.80 and a 12-month high of $488.54.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.08). Tesla had a net margin of 7.26% and a return on equity of 10.31%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Tesla will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Tesla

In other news, Director James R. Murdoch sold 54,776 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.79, for a total value of $13,189,513.04. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 477,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,859,478.69. This represents a 10.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $413.56, for a total value of $2,894,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,063,565.40. This represents a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 477,228 shares of company stock worth $166,849,043 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tesla

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Hengehold Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Tesla by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 1,347 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $544,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Advisors MI lifted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI now owns 6,990 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $2,823,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Acropolis Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC now owns 2,814 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $1,136,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Tesla by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,305 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $2,950,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vista Finance LLC boosted its position in Tesla by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vista Finance LLC now owns 3,510 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $1,417,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. 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.