Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Trading Down 2.3% After Analyst Downgrade

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s stock price was down 2.3% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded the stock from a buy rating to a hold rating. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft now has a $123.00 price target on the stock, down from their previous price target of $189.00. Tesla traded as low as $148.70 and last traded at $151.91. Approximately 40,563,556 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 60% from the average daily volume of 101,070,063 shares. The stock had previously closed at $155.45.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $298.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Tesla from $130.00 to $115.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Tesla from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 12th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Tesla from $225.00 to $205.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, China Renaissance started coverage on Tesla in a report on Monday, February 26th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have given a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $194.70.

Insider Activity at Tesla

In related news, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 93,706 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $194.73, for a total value of $18,247,369.38. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,920,950. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, SVP Xiaotong Zhu sold 687 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $177.11, for a total value of $121,674.57. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 63,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,188,215.81. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 93,706 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $194.73, for a total transaction of $18,247,369.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,000 shares in the company, valued at $2,920,950. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 209,098 shares of company stock valued at $38,802,534. 25.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Tesla by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 229,806,372 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $57,102,287,000 after purchasing an additional 3,866,361 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Tesla by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 99,683,820 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $20,680,162,000 after buying an additional 685,454 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Tesla during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $7,844,757,000. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Tesla by 7.8% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 30,160,747 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $7,546,823,000 after buying an additional 2,177,397 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Tesla by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 29,040,734 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $7,266,572,000 after buying an additional 269,182 shares during the period. 66.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Tesla Trading Down 1.9 %

The stock has a market cap of $468.32 billion, a PE ratio of 34.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.11 and a beta of 2.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.73. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $178.51 and its 200 day moving average price is $211.48.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $25.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.64 billion. Tesla had a net margin of 15.50% and a return on equity of 16.62%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.07 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Tesla, Inc. will post 1.97 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.