HSBC Has Lowered Expectations for Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Stock Price

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) had its price objective lowered by HSBC from $165.00 to $130.00 in a research note issued on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage presently has a "reduce" rating on the electric vehicle producer's stock. HSBC's price target suggests a potential downside of 49.84% from the company's previous close.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Tesla from $515.00 to $430.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Barclays increased their price objective on Tesla from $270.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Tesla from $195.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald raised Tesla from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $425.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Tesla from $490.00 to $380.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $317.75.

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Tesla Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of Tesla stock traded down $4.39 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $259.16. The company had a trading volume of 133,362,829 shares, compared to its average volume of 93,380,718. The company's 50-day moving average is $317.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $323.21. Tesla has a twelve month low of $138.80 and a twelve month high of $488.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 1.61. The company has a market cap of $833.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 127.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Analysts anticipate that Tesla will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Tesla

In related news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,672 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.73, for a total transaction of $718,046.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 26,950 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,242,273.50. This represents a 9.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director James R. Murdoch sold 54,776 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.79, for a total transaction of $13,189,513.04. Following the sale, the director now owns 477,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,859,478.69. This trade represents a 10.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 477,228 shares of company stock valued at $166,849,043. 20.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 position in Tesla during the third quarter worth approximately $287,000. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in Tesla during the third quarter worth approximately $687,000. Glenmede Trust Co. NA boosted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 34.1% in the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 50,899 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $13,317,000 after purchasing an additional 12,955 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Wealth Management Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Tesla by 92.8% during the 3rd quarter. National Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 4,925 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $1,289,000 after buying an additional 2,371 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.20% of the company's stock.

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.