Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Trading Down 7.5% Following Analyst Downgrade

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s stock price traded down 7.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Bank of America lowered their price target on the stock from $490.00 to $380.00. Bank of America currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Tesla traded as low as $261.84 and last traded at $263.37. 49,843,200 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 37% from the average session volume of 79,350,680 shares. The stock had previously closed at $284.65.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Morgan Stanley restated a “top pick” rating and issued a $430.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a research report on Monday. Wedbush set a $302.80 target price on Tesla in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Tesla from $480.00 to $440.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $515.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Tesla from $195.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Tesla currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $315.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at Tesla

In other Tesla news, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $352.54, for a total value of $35,254,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,400 shares in the company, valued at $1,903,716. The trade was a 94.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $413.56, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 403,996 shares of company stock worth $153,721,387 over the last 90 days. 20.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Tesla

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its position in shares of Tesla by 79.5% during the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 70 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Tesla during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Horrell Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Tesla by 75.6% during the fourth quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Tesla in the third quarter worth $35,000. Finally, GS Investments Inc. boosted its stake in Tesla by 193.3% during the fourth quarter. GS Investments Inc. now owns 88 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Tesla Price Performance

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $382.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $318.01. The stock has a market cap of $850.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 129.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.34. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 earnings per share (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%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS 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.