Robert W. Baird Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Stock Price

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) had its price target lowered by equities researchers at Robert W. Baird from $480.00 to $440.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "outperform" rating on the electric vehicle producer's stock. Robert W. Baird's price objective points to a potential upside of 10.73% from the stock's current price.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. KGI Securities raised shares of Tesla from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $276.00 price target for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Tesla from $411.00 to $492.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Tesla from $195.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Thursday. Finally, Glj Research restated a "sell" rating and set a $24.86 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $313.31.

Tesla Stock Up 2.1 %

NASDAQ TSLA traded up $8.25 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $397.35. 54,428,261 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 72,687,461. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $401.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $297.28. Tesla has a 52 week low of $138.80 and a 52 week high of $488.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The company has a market cap of $1.28 trillion, a PE ratio of 108.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.42 and a beta of 2.30.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.08). Tesla had a return on equity of 10.24% and a net margin of 13.07%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Tesla will post 2.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kimbal Musk sold 60,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.23, for a total value of $15,138,915.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 1,563,220 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $391,164,540.60. This represents a 3.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $413.56, for a total transaction of $2,894,920.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,965 shares of the company's stock, valued at $45,063,565.40. The trade was a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 617,886 shares of company stock valued at $212,451,751. Company insiders own 20.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tesla

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hengehold Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 1,347 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $544,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI lifted its position in Tesla by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI now owns 6,990 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $2,823,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC increased its position in Tesla by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC now owns 2,814 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $1,136,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Tesla by 0.3% in 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 acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prospect Financial Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Tesla by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Prospect Financial Services LLC now owns 7,500 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $3,029,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. 66.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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