Mizuho Lowers Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Price Target to $325.00

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) had its price objective lowered by research analysts at Mizuho from $375.00 to $325.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the electric vehicle producer’s stock. Mizuho’s target price points to a potential upside of 25.24% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. StockNews.com cut Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of Tesla from $420.00 to $345.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price target on shares of Tesla from $425.00 to $355.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Tesla from $120.00 to $115.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Tesla presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $286.85.

Tesla Price Performance

Shares of Tesla stock opened at $259.51 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $265.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $322.18. Tesla has a one year low of $158.36 and a one year high of $488.54. The stock has a market cap of $834.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 127.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 2.02.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.26). Tesla had a net margin of 7.26% and a return on equity of 10.31%. The firm had revenue of $19.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.45 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Tesla will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Tesla

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 sale, the director now directly owns 477,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,859,478.69. This represents a 10.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $383.11, for a total transaction of $2,681,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $41,745,581.15. The trade was a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 374,228 shares of company stock valued at $123,791,123. 20.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tesla

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Hengehold Capital Management LLC grew its position in Tesla by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 1,347 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $544,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI increased its holdings in shares of Tesla by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI now owns 6,990 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $2,823,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Acropolis Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Tesla by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC now owns 2,814 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $1,136,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,305 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $2,950,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Vista Finance LLC grew its position in Tesla by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vista Finance LLC now owns 3,510 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $1,417,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. 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.