Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Stock Price Down 2.5% on Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) dropped 2.5% during trading on Friday after Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on the stock from $420.00 to $345.00. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft currently has a buy rating on the stock. Tesla traded as low as $260.79 and last traded at $266.27. Approximately 49,743,609 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 46% from the average daily volume of 92,204,285 shares. The stock had previously closed at $273.13.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Tesla from $135.00 to $130.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Guggenheim lowered their price objective on Tesla from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. HSBC cut their target price on shares of Tesla from $165.00 to $130.00 and set a “reduce” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “cautious” rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Tesla from $492.00 to $474.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 10th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $318.34.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Tesla news, Director James R. Murdoch sold 54,776 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were 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 approximately $114,859,478.69. This trade represents a 10.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 108,965 shares in the company, valued at $45,063,565.40. The trade was a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 477,228 shares of company stock worth $166,849,043. Company insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Tesla

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Tesla by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,650,393 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $955,052,000 after acquiring an additional 194,796 shares in the last quarter. United Bank purchased a new stake in Tesla during the third quarter valued at $287,000. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in Tesla during the third quarter valued at $687,000. Glenmede Trust Co. NA increased its holdings in shares of Tesla by 34.1% in the 3rd quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 50,899 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $13,317,000 after buying an additional 12,955 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 92.8% in the 3rd quarter. National Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 4,925 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $1,289,000 after purchasing an additional 2,371 shares during the period. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Tesla Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 1.61. The firm has a market cap of $855.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 130.42, a PEG ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $324.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $321.35.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 10.31% and a net margin of 7.26%. Equities research analysts forecast that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.