Mizuho Lowers Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Price Target to $430.00

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) had its target price decreased by Mizuho from $515.00 to $430.00 in a report issued on Monday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Mizuho currently has an outperform rating on the electric vehicle producer’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on TSLA. TD Cowen raised shares of Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $180.00 to $388.00 in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price 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. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Tesla from $195.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Glj Research restated a “buy” rating on shares of Tesla in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twenty have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $321.12.

Tesla Stock Up 4.7 %

Shares of Tesla stock opened at $235.86 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Tesla has a twelve month low of $138.80 and a twelve month high of $488.54. 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 company’s 50 day moving average is $341.28 and its 200 day moving average is $320.02.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last released its quarterly 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%. Research analysts anticipate that Tesla will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.63, for a total transaction of $41,163,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,222,802. This trade represents a 94.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 108,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,063,565.40. This represents a 6.04 % decrease in their position. 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. Company insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake 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 last quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 75.6% in the 4th quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. GS Investments Inc. grew its position in shares of Tesla by 193.3% in the 4th quarter. GS Investments Inc. now owns 88 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Navigoe LLC bought a new position in shares of Tesla during the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Tesla during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $38,000. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Tesla Company Profile

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.