Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Trading Down 6.9% on Analyst Downgrade

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s share price dropped 6.9% during trading on Thursday after The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on the stock from $320.00 to $275.00. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Tesla traded as low as $261.51 and last traded at $263.15. Approximately 56,261,452 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 40% from the average daily volume of 93,898,234 shares. The stock had previously closed at $282.76.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Tesla from $373.00 to $280.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. HSBC lowered their price target on Tesla from $165.00 to $130.00 and set a “reduce” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $404.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a research report on Monday, March 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Tesla from $135.00 to $120.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Tesla from $515.00 to $430.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Tesla presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $312.65.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.63, for a total value of $41,163,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,222,802. This represents a 94.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director James R. Murdoch sold 54,776 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.79, for a total value of $13,189,513.04. Following the completion of the sale, 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 three months. 20.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of TSLA. True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in 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. Horrell Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in 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 in the last quarter. GS Investments Inc. grew its position in Tesla by 193.3% in the fourth quarter. GS Investments Inc. now owns 88 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Navigoe LLC bought a new stake in Tesla during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Tesla in the 4th quarter valued at about $38,000. Institutional investors own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Tesla Price Performance

The business has a fifty day moving average of $312.22 and a 200 day moving average of $323.20. 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 firm has a market cap of $859.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 131.02, a PEG ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last announced its 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 return on equity of 10.31% and a net margin of 7.26%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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.