INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Morgan Stanley is no longer providing equity coverage on Tesla stock, the second firm to drop its stock rating on the electric automaker
since CEO Elon Musk announced plans via Twitter to take the company private.
Tesla declined to comment
Morgan Stanley could not be reached for comment to explain why it dropped Tesla
However, some speculate that the brokerage firm could be playing some role in Tesla plan to become a private company.
Morgan Stanley website
no longer shows a stock rating or target price on Tesla
Tesla stock was previously rated at &equal weight.& The move, which was reported by Bloomberg, caused Tesla shares to rise Tuesday
Shares closed at $321.90, about 3.6 percent higher than its opening price.
Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas, a longtime bull of Tesla, had
a $291 price target on the company
In his last research note on August 7, Jonas explained Morgan Stanley placed an equal weight rating on the company because it supports a
near fair value and ¬ a more attractive investment on a risk-adjusted basis than the average stock under our NA coverage.
Last week,
Goldman Sachs Group dropped its Tesla rating and price target, although it gave an explanation for the move
The company is stepping in to advise Musk and the Tesla board on taking the company private.
Musk tweet August 13 provided more details,
including that the company is working with Silver Lake and Goldman Sachs as advisors
The company has hired Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen Katz and Munger, Tolles Olson as legal advisors.
I&m excited to work with Silver Lake and
Goldman Sachs as financial advisors, plus Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen Katz and Munger, Tolles Olson as legal advisors, on the proposal to take
Tesla private
mdash; Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 14, 2018
Musk first floated the idea of taking Tesla private at $420 a share on August 7
via a tweet that prompted the United States Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate.
