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

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s share price dropped 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. Approximately 42,963,975 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 53% from the average daily volume of 90,614,737 shares. The stock had previously closed at $238.01.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on TSLA. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “cautious” rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. UBS Group decreased their target price on shares of Tesla from $259.00 to $225.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Roth Mkm raised shares of Tesla from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $380.00 in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Tesla from $135.00 to $130.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Benchmark assumed coverage on shares of Tesla in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $475.00 target price on the stock. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Tesla presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $319.25.

Insider Activity at Tesla

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 value of $13,189,513.04. Following the sale, the director now owns 477,011 shares in the company, valued at $114,859,478.69. This trade represents a 10.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,063,565.40. The trade was 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 valued at $166,849,043 over the last three months. 20.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tesla

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

Tesla Trading Down 5.3 %

The company has a market cap of $724.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 110.45, a PEG ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $344.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $320.61.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.08). Tesla had a net margin of 7.26% and a return on equity of 10.31%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current 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.