Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Stock Price Down 3.4% on Analyst Downgrade

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s share price was down 3.4% on Friday after UBS Group lowered their price target on the stock from $225.00 to $190.00. UBS Group currently has a sell rating on the stock. Tesla traded as low as $244.07 and last traded at $243.86. Approximately 44,806,066 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 53% from the average daily volume of 95,562,223 shares. The stock had previously closed at $252.40.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Benchmark cut their target price on shares of Tesla from $475.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $404.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Tesla from $474.00 to $455.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $298.59.

Insider Activity at Tesla

In related news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $383.11, for a total transaction of $2,681,770.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,745,581.15. The trade was a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through 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 stock was sold at an average price of $384.04, for a total transaction of $43,162,255.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 85,000 shares in the company, valued at $32,643,400. The trade was a 56.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 374,228 shares of company stock valued at $123,791,123. 20.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tesla

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Tesla by 5.6% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,650,393 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $955,052,000 after purchasing an additional 194,796 shares during the period. M&T Bank Corp raised its holdings in Tesla by 13.3% during the third quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 341,442 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $89,332,000 after acquiring an additional 39,961 shares during the period. McIlrath & Eck LLC boosted its stake in shares of Tesla by 6.0% in the third quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 3,401 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $890,000 after acquiring an additional 192 shares during the period. Advisory Resource Group grew its position in shares of Tesla by 1.2% during the third quarter. Advisory Resource Group now owns 4,260 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $1,115,000 after purchasing an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morse Asset Management Inc raised its stake in Tesla by 46.0% during the 3rd quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 8,712 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $2,279,000 after purchasing an additional 2,743 shares during the period. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Tesla Stock Down 0.2 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $810.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 123.51, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.58. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $285.19 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $323.09.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 earnings per share (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%. On average, equities analysts predict that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal 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.