Guggenheim Lowers Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Price Target to $170.00

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) had its price objective decreased by equities researchers at Guggenheim from $175.00 to $170.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage presently has a “sell” rating on the electric vehicle producer’s stock. Guggenheim’s price objective would suggest a potential downside of 31.37% from the company’s current price.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on TSLA. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Tesla from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “cautious” rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Roth Capital raised Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $404.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Tesla from $195.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Tesla currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $326.28.

Tesla Price Performance

Tesla stock traded up $17.13 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $247.71. 33,511,509 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 85,588,969. The company has a market capitalization of $796.76 billion, a PE ratio of 122.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50. The business has a fifty day moving average of $360.40 and a 200 day moving average of $319.53. Tesla has a 1-year low of $138.80 and a 1-year high of $488.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Tesla will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Tesla news, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 112,390 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $384.04, for a total value of $43,162,255.60. Following the sale, the director now owns 85,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,643,400. The trade was a 56.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,672 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.73, for a total transaction of $718,046.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 26,950 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,242,273.50. This represents a 9.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 422,452 shares of company stock valued at $153,659,530. Company insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. World Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Tesla by 1,248.9% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 199,229 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $52,124,000 after acquiring an additional 184,459 shares during the last quarter. Destination Wealth Management grew its stake in Tesla by 12.1% in the third quarter. Destination Wealth Management now owns 12,597 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $3,296,000 after purchasing an additional 1,359 shares in the last quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC increased its position in shares of Tesla by 126.7% during the 4th quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 1,594 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $644,000 after purchasing an additional 891 shares during the last quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd raised its stake in shares of Tesla by 59.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 117,457 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $30,593,000 after purchasing an additional 43,685 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 309,382 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $80,944,000 after buying an additional 9,919 shares during 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.