Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Given New $450.00 Price Target at Piper Sandler

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) had its target price reduced by investment analysts at Piper Sandler from $500.00 to $450.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the electric vehicle producer’s stock. Piper Sandler’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 90.79% from the company’s current price.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Tesla from $270.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $388.00 in a report on Friday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Tesla from $492.00 to $474.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley restated a “top pick” rating and issued a $430.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Tesla from $440.00 to $370.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Tesla currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $319.56.

Tesla Price Performance

Shares of TSLA opened at $235.86 on Thursday. Tesla has a 1-year low of $138.80 and a 1-year high of $488.54. The stock has a market cap of $758.65 billion, a PE ratio of 115.62, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $341.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $320.02. 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 quarterly 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 net margin of 7.26% and a return on equity of 10.31%. As a group, analysts forecast that Tesla will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director James R. Murdoch sold 54,776 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 477,011 shares in the company, valued at $114,859,478.69. This represents a 10.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.63, for a total transaction of $41,163,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,222,802. This trade represents a 94.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 477,228 shares of company stock worth $166,849,043 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Tesla

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Swedbank AB increased its holdings in shares of Tesla by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,098,717 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $287,457,000 after purchasing an additional 29,669 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Tesla by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,650,393 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $955,052,000 after purchasing an additional 194,796 shares in the last quarter. United Bank purchased a new position in shares of Tesla in the 3rd quarter valued at about $287,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Tesla in the 3rd quarter valued at about $497,000. Finally, Strategy Asset Managers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Tesla in the 3rd quarter valued at about $482,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.