Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Receives “Underperform” Rating from Sanford C. Bernstein

Sanford C. Bernstein reissued their underperform rating on shares of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) in a research report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $120.00 target price on the electric vehicle producer’s stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on TSLA. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Tesla from $160.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a hold rating in a report on Wednesday, July 3rd. UBS Group cut Tesla from a neutral rating to a sell rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $147.00 to $197.00 in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Robert W. Baird reissued an outperform rating and set a $280.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. China Renaissance raised shares of Tesla from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $290.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 5th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Tesla from $225.00 to $220.00 and set an equal weight rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have assigned a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Tesla has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $210.54.

Tesla Stock Performance

NASDAQ:TSLA opened at $240.66 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $767.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 61.39, a PEG ratio of 7.08 and a beta of 2.29. The business has a 50 day moving average of $223.40 and a 200 day moving average of $200.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 1.40. Tesla has a 1-year low of $138.80 and a 1-year high of $271.00.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by ($0.10). The business had revenue of $25.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $24.38 billion. Tesla had a net margin of 13.00% and a return on equity of 10.41%. Tesla’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.78 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Tesla will post 1.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Tesla news, SVP Xiaotong Zhu sold 297 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.77, for a total value of $65,865.69. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 67,491 shares in the company, valued at $14,967,479.07. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Xiaotong Zhu sold 297 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.77, for a total value of $65,865.69. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 67,491 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,967,479.07. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $2,000,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 105,032 shares in the company, valued at $26,258,000. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 74,661 shares of company stock worth $16,663,291. 25.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tesla

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Tesla during the second quarter valued at $25,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Tesla by 168.8% during the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 129 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the last quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Tesla during the second quarter valued at $26,000. M&R Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Tesla by 263.2% during the third quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. now owns 138 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A purchased a new stake in shares of Tesla during the fourth quarter valued at $37,000. 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.