Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Shares Down 5.2% After Analyst Downgrade

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s share price fell 5.2% 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. 42,963,975 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 53% from the average session volume of 90,614,737 shares. The stock had previously closed at $238.01.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Tesla from $135.00 to $130.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 14th. Roth Capital raised shares of Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed a “top pick” rating and issued a $430.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $365.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Tesla from $440.00 to $370.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $319.25.

Insider Activity

In other Tesla news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,672 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.73, for a total value of $718,046.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 26,950 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,242,273.50. The trade was a 9.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 112,390 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $384.04, for a total value of $43,162,255.60. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 85,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,643,400. This trade represents a 56.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 477,228 shares of company stock worth $166,849,043. 20.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Tesla

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TSLA. 111 Capital bought a new position in shares of Tesla in the 4th quarter worth approximately $8,977,000. Thoma Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Tesla during the 4th quarter valued at $1,130,000. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC lifted its position in Tesla by 36.8% during the 4th quarter. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC now owns 11,989 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $4,842,000 after acquiring an additional 3,224 shares during the period. Members Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Tesla in the fourth quarter worth about $359,000. Finally, Tableaux LLC bought a new position in shares of Tesla during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $681,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Tesla Stock Down 5.3 %

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 stock has a market capitalization of $724.71 billion, a PE ratio of 110.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $344.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $320.61.

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