Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Trading Down 8.6% After Analyst Downgrade

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) fell 8.6% during trading on Monday after UBS Group lowered their price target on the stock from $259.00 to $225.00. UBS Group currently has a sell rating on the stock. Tesla traded as low as $237.60 and last traded at $240.09. 53,467,303 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 35% from the average session volume of 81,670,172 shares. The stock had previously closed at $262.67.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Mizuho reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $515.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “mixed” rating on shares of Tesla in a research note on Saturday, February 8th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Tesla from $351.00 to $373.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Tesla from $492.00 to $474.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a research report on Friday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $326.31.

Insider Buying and Selling at Tesla

In other Tesla news, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 112,390 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $299.61, for a total value of $33,673,167.90. Following the sale, the director now owns 85,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,466,850. This represents a 56.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,672 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction 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. This trade represents a 9.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 422,452 shares of company stock valued at $153,659,530. Corporate insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. True Wealth Design LLC lifted 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 purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Tesla in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Horrell Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Tesla by 75.6% during the 4th 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. acquired a new stake in shares of Tesla in the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, GS Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in Tesla by 193.3% in the fourth quarter. GS Investments Inc. now owns 88 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Tesla Trading Down 8.7 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 2.02. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $367.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $319.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $771.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 117.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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%. On average, analysts predict that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current 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.