Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Trading Down 5.2% Following Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) were down 5.2% during trading on Tuesday after Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on the stock from $440.00 to $320.00. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Tesla traded as low as $222.28 and last traded at $225.65. Approximately 42,963,975 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 53% from the average daily volume of 90,614,737 shares. The stock had previously closed at $238.01.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on TSLA. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Tesla from $135.00 to $130.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Tesla from $270.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Guggenheim decreased their price objective on shares of Tesla from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. 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 research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Roth Mkm raised shares of Tesla from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $85.00 to $380.00 in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $321.12.

Insider Transactions at Tesla

In related news, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 112,390 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $384.04, for a total transaction of $43,162,255.60. Following the sale, the director now owns 85,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,643,400. The trade was a 56.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was 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. This represents a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 477,228 shares of company stock worth $166,849,043 over the last ninety days. 20.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Tesla

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Tesla by 75.6% during the fourth quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. GS Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in Tesla by 193.3% during the fourth quarter. GS Investments Inc. now owns 88 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Navigoe LLC purchased a new stake in Tesla during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Tesla during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Tesla Trading Up 4.7 %

The stock has a market cap of $758.65 billion, a PE ratio of 115.62, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The business’s fifty day moving average is $341.28 and its 200 day moving average is $320.02.

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 net margin of 7.26% and a return on equity of 10.31%. As a group, analysts predict that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

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.