Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Stock Price Down 6.9% After Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) dropped 6.9% on Thursday after The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on the stock from $320.00 to $275.00. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Tesla traded as low as $261.51 and last traded at $263.15. Approximately 56,261,452 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 40% from the average daily volume of 93,898,234 shares. The stock had previously closed at $282.76.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on TSLA. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a report on Thursday, March 27th. TD Cowen raised shares of Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $180.00 to $388.00 in a research note on Friday, March 7th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Tesla from $195.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Oppenheimer reiterated a “mixed” rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, HSBC decreased their target price on shares of Tesla from $165.00 to $130.00 and set a “reduce” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given 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.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $312.65.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Tesla news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $413.56, for a total value of $2,894,920.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 108,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,063,565.40. The trade was a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director James R. Murdoch sold 54,776 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. Insiders have sold a total of 477,228 shares of company stock worth $166,849,043 in the last ninety days. 20.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

Tesla Trading Down 5.5 %

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 stock’s 50 day moving average is $312.22 and its 200-day moving average is $323.20. The company has a market capitalization of $859.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 131.02, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last released its 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%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current 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.