Truist Financial Cuts Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Price Target to $280.00

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) had its target price reduced by Truist Financial from $373.00 to $280.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a hold rating on the electric vehicle producer’s stock.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Tesla from $270.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Tesla from $430.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $404.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a report on Monday, March 17th. Guggenheim decreased their price target on Tesla from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price objective 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. Eight 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $312.65.

Tesla Stock Performance

NASDAQ TSLA opened at $239.43 on Thursday. 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 1-year low of $138.80 and a 1-year high of $488.54. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $305.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $323.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $770.13 billion, a PE ratio of 117.37, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.58.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 earnings per share 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%. On average, research analysts predict that Tesla will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Tesla

In other Tesla news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,672 shares of the business’s 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. The trade was a 9.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director James R. Murdoch sold 54,776 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 477,011 shares in the company, valued at $114,859,478.69. This 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 477,228 shares of company stock valued at $166,849,043. Company insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in shares of Tesla by 79.5% during the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 70 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Tesla by 75.6% in the 4th quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. GS Investments Inc. grew its stake in Tesla by 193.3% during the 4th quarter. GS Investments Inc. now owns 88 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Navigoe LLC acquired a new position in Tesla during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Tesla in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. Institutional investors own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

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.