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

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) gapped down before the market opened 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.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $404.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a report on Monday. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Tesla from $270.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Tesla from $440.00 to $370.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Tesla from $195.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Roth Mkm upgraded shares of Tesla from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $380.00 in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $321.12.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Tesla news, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.63, for a total transaction of $41,163,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,222,802. This trade represents a 94.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director James R. Murdoch sold 54,776 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.79, for a total transaction of $13,189,513.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 477,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,859,478.69. This represents a 10.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 477,228 shares of company stock valued at $166,849,043 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in TSLA. True Wealth Design LLC raised its stake in shares of Tesla by 79.5% in the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 70 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. Horrell Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Tesla by 75.6% in the 4th quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the period. GS Investments Inc. raised its stake in shares of Tesla by 193.3% in the 4th quarter. GS Investments Inc. now owns 88 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Navigoe LLC purchased a new position in shares of Tesla in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Tesla in the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Tesla Stock Performance

The stock’s fifty day moving average is $341.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $320.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $758.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 115.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 2.02.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 earnings per share 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%. 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.