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

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) gapped down before the market opened on Monday after Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on the stock from $474.00 to $455.00. The stock had previously closed at $263.55, but opened at $249.31. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the stock. Tesla shares last traded at $251.50, with a volume of 23,693,794 shares changing hands.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on TSLA. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Tesla from $500.00 to $450.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. TD Cowen raised shares of Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $180.00 to $388.00 in a research report on Friday, March 7th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Tesla from $259.00 to $225.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Tesla from $195.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Glj Research reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Tesla currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $317.75.

Insider Activity at Tesla

In other news, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 112,390 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 85,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,643,400. This represents a 56.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,672 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.73, for a total transaction of $718,046.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 26,950 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,242,273.50. This trade represents a 9.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 477,228 shares of company stock valued at $166,849,043. 20.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Hengehold Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Tesla by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 1,347 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $544,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Advisors MI boosted its position in Tesla by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI now owns 6,990 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $2,823,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Acropolis Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Tesla by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC now owns 2,814 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $1,136,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Tesla by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,305 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $2,950,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Vista Finance LLC raised its stake in shares of Tesla by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vista Finance LLC now owns 3,510 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $1,417,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Tesla Stock Performance

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 $797.82 billion, a PE ratio of 121.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $321.33 and a 200-day moving average of $323.01.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last posted its quarterly 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%. Equities analysts anticipate that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share 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.