HSBC Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Stock Price

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) had its target price cut by investment analysts at HSBC from $165.00 to $130.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The firm presently has a “reduce” rating on the electric vehicle producer’s stock. HSBC’s price target would suggest a potential downside of 52.22% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Tesla from $492.00 to $474.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. TD Cowen raised shares of Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $180.00 to $388.00 in a report on Friday, March 7th. New Street Research raised shares of Tesla from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $460.00 price target on the stock in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price objective on Tesla from $490.00 to $380.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $319.12.

Tesla Stock Down 5.6 %

TSLA opened at $272.06 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $327.40 and a 200 day moving average of $321.69. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Tesla has a 12 month low of $138.80 and a 12 month high of $488.54. The company has a market cap of $875.09 billion, a PE ratio of 133.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50.

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%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Tesla will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Tesla

In other Tesla news, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 112,390 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $384.04, for a total value of $43,162,255.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 85,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,643,400. This represents a 56.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 directly owns 477,011 shares in the company, valued at $114,859,478.69. The trade was a 10.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 477,228 shares of company stock worth $166,849,043. Company insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Tesla

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. True Wealth Design LLC boosted 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 valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Tesla by 75.6% during the fourth quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. GS Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 193.3% during the 4th quarter. GS Investments Inc. now owns 88 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Navigoe LLC bought a new position in shares of Tesla in the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Tesla during the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.