Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) had its target price lowered by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $450.00 to $333.00 in a research note issued on Monday, Analyst Ratings Net reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the electric vehicle producer’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 74.16% from the stock’s current price.

Shares of Tesla Motors (NASDAQ:TSLA) traded up 2.75% during trading on Monday, hitting $196.46. The stock had a trading volume of 2,378,221 shares. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $215.42 and a 200 day moving average of $233.33. Tesla Motors has a 12-month low of $181.40 and a 12-month high of $286.65. The firm’s market cap is $25.73 billion.

Tesla Motors (NASDAQ:TSLA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 3rd. The electric vehicle producer reported ($0.58) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of ($0.50) by $0.08. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.02 EPS. The firm earned $963.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.26 billion. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 33.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Tesla Motors will post ($1.28) earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

TSLA has been the topic of several other reports. Vetr upgraded Tesla Motors from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $252.19 price objective on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 20th. Oppenheimer restated a “buy” rating and issued a $340.00 price objective on shares of Tesla Motors in a research report on Wednesday, November 4th. Barclays downgraded Tesla Motors from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $190.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Friday, October 9th. RBC Capital restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $280.00 price objective on shares of Tesla Motors in a research report on Thursday, November 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 price objective on shares of Tesla Motors in a research report on Tuesday, January 5th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the stock. The stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $281.87.

In other news, Director Kimbal Musk sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $229.49, for a total value of $1,147,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 152,324 shares in the company, valued at $34,956,834.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jeffrey B. Straubel sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $212.47, for a total value of $2,124,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 134,902 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,662,627.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

A number of hedge funds and institutional investors have modified their holdings of TSLA. Janus Capital Management increased its position in shares of Tesla Motors by 757.2% in the third quarter. Janus Capital Management now owns 263,072 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $65,347,000 after buying an additional 232,382 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its position in shares of Tesla Motors by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 180,758 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $43,384,000 after buying an additional 2,952 shares in the last quarter. Russell Frank Co increased its position in shares of Tesla Motors by 483.2% in the fourth quarter. Russell Frank Co now owns 88,348 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $21,036,000 after buying an additional 73,200 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio increased its position in shares of Tesla Motors by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 63,891 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $15,334,000 after buying an additional 695 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its position in shares of Tesla Motors by 11.7% in the fourth quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 55,668 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $13,361,000 after buying an additional 5,853 shares in the last quarter.

Tesla Motors, Inc. is a United States-based company, which designs, develops, manufactures and sells electric vehicles, electric vehicle powertrain components and stationary energy storage systems. The Company sells and produces a vehicle under the name Model S, which is a fully electric, four-door, five-adult passenger sedan. In addition to developing its own vehicles, it develops, sells, and services full electric powertrain systems and components to other automobile manufacturers. It also produces and sells stationary energy storage products for use in homes, commercial sites and utilities. The applications for these battery systems include backup power, peak demand reduction, demand response and wholesale electric market services. It sells its vehicles through its own sales and service network. The Company also offers the Model X electric car, Supercharger charging stations and Powerwall, a home battery.

12 Month Chart for NASDAQ:TSLA

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