Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Shares Down 5.2% on Analyst Downgrade

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s share price fell 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. 42,963,975 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 53% from the average session volume of 90,614,737 shares. The stock had previously closed at $238.01.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on TSLA. Bank of America reduced their target price on Tesla from $490.00 to $380.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Tesla in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Tesla from $195.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. New Street Research raised Tesla from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $460.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on Tesla from $515.00 to $430.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $319.25.

Insider Transactions at Tesla

In other news, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.63, for a total transaction of $41,163,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,222,802. The trade was a 94.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through 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 value of $2,894,920.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 108,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,063,565.40. The trade was a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 477,228 shares of company stock worth $166,849,043. 20.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Thoma Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Tesla during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,130,000. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC lifted its position in Tesla by 36.8% during the 4th quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 11,989 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $4,842,000 after acquiring an additional 3,224 shares in the last quarter. Members Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Tesla during the 4th quarter worth approximately $359,000. Tableaux LLC acquired a new position in Tesla during the 4th quarter worth approximately $681,000. Finally, Keystone Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Tesla during the 4th quarter worth approximately $246,000. 66.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Tesla Stock Down 4.0 %

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $347.85 and a 200 day moving average of $320.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $734.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 111.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.08). Tesla had a net margin of 7.26% and a return on equity of 10.31%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current 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.