Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday after Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on the stock from $440.00 to $320.00. The stock had previously closed at $238.01, but opened at $228.16. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Tesla shares last traded at $223.96, with a volume of 20,064,175 shares trading hands.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on TSLA. Roth Mkm raised shares of Tesla from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $85.00 to $380.00 in a report on Monday, December 2nd. TD Cowen raised shares of Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $180.00 to $388.00 in a report on Friday, March 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of Tesla from $295.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Tesla from $490.00 to $380.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a report on Friday, March 7th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Tesla currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $321.12.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Tesla news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $413.56, for a total transaction of $2,894,920.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,063,565.40. The trade was a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director James R. Murdoch sold 54,776 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.79, for a total transaction of $13,189,513.04. Following the sale, the director now owns 477,011 shares in the company, valued at $114,859,478.69. This trade represents a 10.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 477,228 shares of company stock worth $166,849,043. 20.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake in shares of Tesla by 79.5% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. grew its stake 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 during the last quarter. GS Investments Inc. grew its stake in shares of Tesla by 193.3% in the 4th quarter. GS Investments Inc. now owns 88 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Navigoe LLC acquired a new position in shares of Tesla in the 4th quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Tesla in the 4th quarter worth approximately $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Tesla Price Performance

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $341.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $320.02. The company has a market cap of $758.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 115.62, a PEG ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50. 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 (NASDAQ:TSLA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.08). Tesla had a return on equity of 10.31% and a net margin of 7.26%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.