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

Shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) gapped down before the market opened on Monday after Barclays lowered their price target on the stock from $325.00 to $275.00. The stock had previously closed at $241.37, but opened at $230.26. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Tesla shares last traded at $224.50, with a volume of 13,828,751 shares.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Tesla from $450.00 to $400.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Glj Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. BNP Paribas set a $137.00 price objective on shares of Tesla and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of Tesla from $420.00 to $345.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 28th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $290.66.

Insider Transactions at Tesla

In related news, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 112,390 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $384.04, for a total value of $43,162,255.60. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 85,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $32,643,400. This trade represents a 56.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director James R. Murdoch sold 54,776 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.79, for a total transaction of $13,189,513.04. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 477,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $114,859,478.69. The trade was a 10.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 374,228 shares of company stock valued at $123,791,123. 20.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Tesla by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 243,193,181 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $98,211,134,000 after purchasing an additional 3,571,793 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Tesla by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 61,011,604 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $24,566,217,000 after buying an additional 1,655,203 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Tesla during the 4th quarter worth approximately $14,420,248,000. FMR LLC increased its position in Tesla by 40.1% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 34,661,400 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $13,997,660,000 after acquiring an additional 9,920,325 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of Tesla by 21.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 28,579,615 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $11,541,592,000 after acquiring an additional 5,075,418 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Tesla Trading Down 6.8 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 1.61. The company has a market cap of $723.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 110.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.58. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $273.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $323.29.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.08). Tesla had a net margin of 7.26% and a return on equity of 10.31%. Research analysts anticipate that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share 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.