The Goldman Sachs Group Cuts Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Price Target to $275.00

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Free Report) had its price target cut by The Goldman Sachs Group from $320.00 to $275.00 in a report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the electric vehicle producer's stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen raised shares of Tesla from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price target for the company from $180.00 to $388.00 in a report on Friday, March 7th. 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. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Tesla from $195.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $425.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Tesla from $440.00 to $320.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $305.31.

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Tesla Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ TSLA traded down $6.14 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $233.29. 177,679,598 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 94,609,830. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $305.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $324.24. The company has a market cap of $750.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 114.36, a PEG ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.58. 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 52 week low of $138.80 and a 52 week high of $488.54.

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 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%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Tesla will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Tesla news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,672 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 26,950 shares in the company, valued at $7,242,273.50. The trade was a 9.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, 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 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 370,228 shares of company stock worth $122,791,123. 20.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tesla

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hengehold Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Tesla by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 1,347 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $544,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI raised its position in Tesla by 0.3% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC grew its holdings 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 position in Tesla by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,305 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $2,950,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vista Finance LLC raised 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 worth $1,417,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.