Royal Bank of Canada Has Lowered Expectations for Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Stock Price

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) had its price objective dropped by equities research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $440.00 to $320.00 in a report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage presently has an “outperform” rating on the electric vehicle producer’s stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price objective points to a potential upside of 35.67% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on TSLA. TD Cowen raised Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $180.00 to $388.00 in a research note on Friday, March 7th. New Street Research raised Tesla from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $460.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Tesla from $515.00 to $430.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Tesla in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Benchmark began coverage on Tesla in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $475.00 price objective for the company. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $321.12.

Tesla Stock Performance

Shares of TSLA stock opened at $235.86 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $758.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 115.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $341.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $320.02. Tesla has a 12-month low of $138.80 and a 12-month high of $488.54. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last issued 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Tesla will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Tesla

In related news, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now owns 5,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,222,802. This trade represents a 94.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director James R. Murdoch sold 54,776 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.79, for a total value of $13,189,513.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 477,011 shares in the company, valued at $114,859,478.69. This trade represents a 10.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 477,228 shares of company stock worth $166,849,043. 20.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in Tesla by 79.5% in the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 70 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Horrell Capital Management Inc. raised its position in Tesla by 75.6% in the fourth quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. GS Investments Inc. raised its position in Tesla by 193.3% in the fourth quarter. GS Investments Inc. now owns 88 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Navigoe LLC purchased a new position in Tesla in the fourth quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Tesla in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. 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.