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

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s stock price 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 changing hands.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “cautious” rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on Tesla from $440.00 to $370.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Tesla from $492.00 to $474.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $404.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a report on Monday. Finally, Guggenheim cut their price target on Tesla from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $319.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Tesla

In other news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of the 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 owns 108,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,063,565.40. This represents a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director James R. Murdoch sold 54,776 shares of the 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 477,011 shares in the company, valued at $114,859,478.69. The trade was a 10.30 % 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 in the last quarter. 20.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tesla

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its stake in shares of Tesla by 79.5% during the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 70 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Tesla by 75.6% during the 4th quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. GS Investments Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Tesla by 193.3% during the 4th 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 stake in shares of Tesla during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Tesla in the fourth quarter valued at about $38,000. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Tesla Stock Performance

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $347.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $320.53. 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 company has a market capitalization of $720.38 billion, a PE ratio of 109.79, a PEG 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 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%. Equities research 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.