Morgan Stanley Lowers Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Price Target to $410.00

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) had its target price cut by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $430.00 to $410.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the electric vehicle producer’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price suggests a potential upside of 64.85% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “cautious” rating on shares of Tesla in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Tesla from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $425.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Tesla from $135.00 to $130.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Tesla from $195.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $318.93.

Tesla Trading Up 5.3 %

TSLA stock opened at $248.71 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $799.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 121.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $335.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $320.44. Tesla has a one year low of $138.80 and a one year high of $488.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 1.61.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.08). Tesla had a return on equity of 10.31% and a net margin of 7.26%. Equities analysts anticipate that Tesla will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Tesla

In other news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $413.56, for a total transaction of $2,894,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 108,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,063,565.40. This trade represents a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director James R. Murdoch sold 54,776 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.79, for a total transaction of $13,189,513.04. Following the transaction, the director now owns 477,011 shares in the company, valued at $114,859,478.69. The trade was a 10.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 477,228 shares of company stock valued at $166,849,043. 20.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tesla

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake in shares of Tesla by 79.5% in the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 70 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Horrell Capital Management Inc. grew its stake 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 acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. GS Investments Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Tesla by 193.3% during the fourth 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 fourth quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Tesla in the 4th quarter worth $38,000. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.