Stifel Nicolaus Has Lowered Expectations for Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Stock Price

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) had its target price dropped by equities research analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $474.00 to $455.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the electric vehicle producer’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price target would suggest a potential upside of 69.49% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on TSLA. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Tesla from $515.00 to $430.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 17th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Tesla from $440.00 to $320.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $180.00 to $388.00 in a research note on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group decreased their price target on Tesla from $259.00 to $225.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Tesla from $270.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Tesla presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $317.75.

Tesla Stock Performance

Shares of TSLA stock opened at $268.46 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $314.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $323.48. Tesla has a one year low of $138.80 and a one year high of $488.54. The stock has a market cap of $863.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 131.60, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 1.61.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analysts predict that Tesla will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Tesla news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,063,565.40. This trade represents a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.63, for a total transaction of $41,163,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,222,802. This represents a 94.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 477,228 shares of company stock worth $166,849,043 in the last three months. Company insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TSLA. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Tesla during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $14,420,248,000. FMR LLC lifted its stake in Tesla by 40.1% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 34,661,400 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $13,997,660,000 after acquiring an additional 9,920,325 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its stake in shares of Tesla by 36,790.0% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 8,660,672 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $3,497,526,000 after acquiring an additional 8,637,195 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of Tesla by 4,963.0% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,834,707 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $2,356,288,000 after purchasing an additional 5,719,466 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Tesla by 21.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 28,579,615 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $11,541,592,000 after purchasing an additional 5,075,418 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.