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

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) had its price objective reduced by research analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from $474.00 to $455.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the electric vehicle producer’s stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ price objective indicates a potential upside of 72.64% from the stock’s current price.

TSLA has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Roth Mkm upgraded shares of Tesla from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $380.00 in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Tesla from $430.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 21st. Cowen raised Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “cautious” rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated a “mixed” rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Tesla presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $317.75.

Tesla Trading Down 3.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:TSLA opened at $263.55 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $321.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $323.01. The company has a market capitalization of $847.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 129.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 2.02. Tesla has a 52-week low of $138.80 and a 52-week 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 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Tesla will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director James R. Murdoch sold 54,776 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.63, for a total value of $41,163,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,222,802. This represents a 94.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 477,228 shares of company stock valued at $166,849,043. Insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Tesla

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake in Tesla by 79.5% during the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 70 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Horrell Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Tesla by 75.6% during the 4th quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. GS Investments Inc. increased its stake in shares of Tesla by 193.3% in the 4th quarter. GS Investments Inc. now owns 88 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Navigoe LLC acquired a new position in shares of Tesla during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust bought a new position in Tesla during the fourth quarter worth $38,000. 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.