Piper Sandler Cuts Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Price Target to $400.00

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) had its price target lowered by Piper Sandler from $450.00 to $400.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the electric vehicle producer’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Tesla from $474.00 to $455.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Wedbush decreased their target price on Tesla from $550.00 to $315.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Tesla from $135.00 to $120.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Guggenheim dropped their target price on shares of Tesla from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, New Street Research upgraded shares of Tesla from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $460.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $292.18.

Tesla Stock Performance

Shares of TSLA stock opened at $241.17 on Wednesday. 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 has a fifty-two week low of $138.80 and a fifty-two week high of $488.54. The company has a market capitalization of $775.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 118.22, a PEG ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.58. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $273.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $322.21.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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%. Analysts expect that Tesla will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 112,390 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $384.04, for a total value of $43,162,255.60. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 85,000 shares in the company, valued at $32,643,400. This trade represents a 56.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,672 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.73, for a total value of $718,046.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 26,950 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,242,273.50. This represents a 9.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 374,228 shares of company stock valued at $123,791,123 over the last three months. Insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Tesla

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TSLA. Hengehold Capital Management LLC lifted its position 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 valued at $544,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI lifted its position in shares of Tesla by 0.3% during 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 buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Tesla by 0.9% during 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 during the period. Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Tesla by 0.3% in 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 acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vista Finance LLC lifted its holdings in Tesla by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Vista Finance LLC now owns 3,510 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $1,417,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. 66.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.