Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Cut to Neutral at Bank of America

Bank of America downgraded shares of Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report released on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. Bank of America currently has $490.00 target price on the electric vehicle producer’s stock, up from their prior target price of $400.00.

TSLA has been the subject of several other research reports. Phillip Securities cut Tesla from a “moderate sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Roth Mkm raised 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. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on Tesla from $255.00 to $365.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “underperform” rating and set a $120.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Tesla presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $295.69.

Tesla Price Performance

Shares of TSLA stock opened at $394.94 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $373.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $279.12. Tesla has a 12 month low of $138.80 and a 12 month high of $488.54. The company has a market capitalization of $1.27 trillion, a PE ratio of 108.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.80 and a beta of 2.30.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $25.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.47 billion. Tesla had a return on equity of 10.24% and a net margin of 13.07%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.53 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Tesla will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Tesla

In related news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was 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 owns 108,965 shares in the company, valued at $45,063,565.40. The trade was a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were 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 owns 5,400 shares in the company, valued at $2,222,802. This trade represents a 94.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 621,886 shares of company stock worth $213,451,751. Corporate insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tesla

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TSLA. Connable Office Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Tesla by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Connable Office Inc. now owns 12,872 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $3,368,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. raised its holdings in Tesla by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 908 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $238,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Holistic Financial Partners increased its holdings in shares of Tesla by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Holistic Financial Partners now owns 4,055 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $1,061,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Sherrill & Hutchins Financial Advisory Inc increased its holdings in shares of Tesla by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Sherrill & Hutchins Financial Advisory Inc now owns 3,058 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $800,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Altman Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Tesla by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Altman Advisors Inc. now owns 10,754 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $2,814,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

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.