Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Shares Down 7.9% Following Analyst Downgrade

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s share price was down 7.9% during trading on Friday after The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on the stock from $320.00 to $275.00. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Tesla traded as low as $236.00 and last traded at $246.21. Approximately 66,027,949 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 30% from the average daily volume of 94,170,050 shares. The stock had previously closed at $267.28.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on TSLA. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Tesla from $500.00 to $450.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Tesla from $440.00 to $320.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $404.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Glj Research restated a “buy” rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Guggenheim cut their price objective on Tesla from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $312.65.

Insider Buying and Selling at Tesla

In other news, 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 value of $13,189,513.04. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 477,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $114,859,478.69. The trade was a 10.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $413.56, for a total value of $2,894,920.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 108,965 shares in the company, valued at $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 477,228 shares of company stock worth $166,849,043 over the last three months. Insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tesla

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hengehold Capital Management LLC raised its position in Tesla by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 1,347 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $544,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI raised its holdings in shares of Tesla by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI now owns 6,990 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $2,823,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Tesla by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC now owns 2,814 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $1,136,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Tesla by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,305 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $2,950,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vista Finance LLC increased its position in Tesla by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vista Finance LLC now owns 3,510 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $1,417,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Tesla Trading Down 10.4 %

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $305.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $322.90. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $770.13 billion, a PE ratio of 117.37, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.58.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 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%. Analysts predict 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.