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

Shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) gapped down before the market opened on Monday after Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on the stock from $474.00 to $455.00. The stock had previously closed at $263.55, but opened at $249.31. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the stock. Tesla shares last traded at $251.50, with a volume of 23,693,794 shares.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on TSLA. Benchmark began coverage on Tesla in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $475.00 target price for the company. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research note on Thursday. Truist Financial lifted their target price on shares of Tesla from $351.00 to $373.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Oppenheimer reissued a “mixed” rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Cowen upgraded shares of Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Tesla presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $317.75.

Insider Transactions at Tesla

In other news, Director James R. Murdoch sold 54,776 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 477,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,859,478.69. This represents a 10.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.63, for a total value of $41,163,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,222,802. This represents a 94.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 477,228 shares of company stock valued at $166,849,043. 20.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in Tesla by 79.5% during the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 70 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Tesla by 75.6% during the 4th quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. GS Investments Inc. lifted its stake in Tesla by 193.3% in the fourth 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 purchased a new position in shares of Tesla during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Tesla in the fourth quarter worth approximately $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Tesla Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $321.33 and a 200-day moving average of $323.01. 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 $797.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 121.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last issued 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, equities research analysts anticipate 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.