JPMorgan Chase & Co. Has Lowered Expectations for Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Stock Price

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) had its target price cut by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $135.00 to $120.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an underweight rating on the electric vehicle producer’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Phillip Securities lowered shares of Tesla from a “moderate sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. New Street Research raised shares of Tesla from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $460.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a report on Friday, March 7th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Tesla from $492.00 to $474.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Benchmark assumed coverage on shares of Tesla in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $475.00 target price on the stock. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Tesla presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $325.81.

Tesla Stock Performance

Shares of TSLA stock opened at $248.09 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $797.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 121.61, a PEG ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $357.29 and its 200 day moving average is $319.03. Tesla has a 12 month low of $138.80 and a 12 month high of $488.54.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 EPS 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Tesla will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Tesla

In related news, Director James R. Murdoch sold 54,776 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 477,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $114,859,478.69. This trade represents a 10.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $2,222,802. This trade represents a 94.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 477,228 shares of company stock valued at $166,849,043. Company insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of TSLA. Swedbank AB increased its stake in Tesla by 2.8% during 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 stake in Tesla by 5.6% during 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 bought a new stake in Tesla during the 3rd quarter valued at about $287,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Tesla by 9.3% during the 3rd quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,980 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $1,303,000 after purchasing an additional 423 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Aigen Investment Management LP bought a new stake in Tesla during the 3rd quarter valued at about $610,000. 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.