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

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday after Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on the stock from $440.00 to $320.00. The stock had previously closed at $238.01, but opened at $228.16. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Tesla shares last traded at $223.96, with a volume of 20,064,175 shares traded.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Tesla from $515.00 to $430.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Tesla from $270.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. TD Cowen upgraded Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $388.00 in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Tesla from $135.00 to $130.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Tesla from $440.00 to $370.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $319.25.

Insider Activity

In other Tesla news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,965 shares in the company, valued at $45,063,565.40. This trade represents a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director James R. Murdoch sold 54,776 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 477,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $114,859,478.69. This represents a 10.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 477,228 shares of company stock valued at $166,849,043. Corporate insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. True Wealth Design LLC increased 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 valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the period. Horrell Capital Management Inc. boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. GS Investments Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Tesla by 193.3% in the 4th quarter. GS Investments Inc. now owns 88 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Navigoe LLC bought a new position in shares of Tesla in the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Tesla during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Tesla Stock Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average of $344.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $320.61. 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 company has a market cap of $724.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 110.45, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 earnings per share 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 predict that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS 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.