HSBC Cuts Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Price Target to $130.00

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) had its target price decreased by HSBC from $165.00 to $130.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. HSBC currently has a reduce rating on the electric vehicle producer’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Tesla from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $425.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Guggenheim cut their price objective on Tesla from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Barclays lifted their target price on Tesla from $270.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Benchmark initiated coverage on Tesla in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $475.00 target price for the company. Finally, StockNews.com cut Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Tesla presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $318.34.

Tesla Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:TSLA opened at $263.55 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $847.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 129.19, a PEG ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50. 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 has a 12 month low of $138.80 and a 12 month high of $488.54. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $321.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $322.34.

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

Insider Activity at Tesla

In other Tesla news, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of the business’s 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,222,802. The trade was a 94.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $413.56, for a total value 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 approximately $45,063,565.40. This trade represents a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 477,228 shares of company stock valued at $166,849,043 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of TSLA. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings 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 worth $955,052,000 after acquiring an additional 194,796 shares during the period. United Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Tesla during the third quarter worth $287,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in Tesla in the third quarter valued at about $687,000. Glenmede Trust Co. NA lifted its stake in Tesla by 34.1% in the third quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 50,899 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $13,317,000 after buying an additional 12,955 shares during the period. Finally, National Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in Tesla by 92.8% during the third quarter. National Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 4,925 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $1,289,000 after buying an additional 2,371 shares during the last quarter. 66.20% of the stock is owned by 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.