Stifel Nicolaus Lowers Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Price Target to $474.00

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) had its target price cut by Stifel Nicolaus from $492.00 to $474.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the electric vehicle producer’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on TSLA. Glj Research restated a “sell” rating and issued a $24.86 price target on shares of Tesla in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. 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. New Street Research upgraded Tesla from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $460.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Tesla from $250.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Roth Capital raised Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Tesla currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $326.50.

Tesla Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ TSLA opened at $336.51 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.08 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 164.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.22 and a beta of 2.34. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $407.68 and a two-hundred day moving average of $306.23. Tesla has a 1 year low of $138.80 and a 1 year high of $488.54.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last posted 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%. On average, analysts forecast that Tesla will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Tesla

In other Tesla news, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 112,390 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.06, for a total value of $39,792,803.40. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 85,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,095,100. This trade represents a 56.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 5,400 shares in the company, valued at $1,903,716. This trade represents a 94.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 635,776 shares of company stock valued at $231,335,112 over the last three months. 20.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Tesla

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Hengehold Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI increased its holdings in Tesla by 0.3% in 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 buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Tesla by 0.9% in 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 buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Tesla by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,305 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $2,950,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vista Finance LLC increased its holdings 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 during the last quarter. 66.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.