Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Shares Gap Down to $175.22

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) shares gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $175.22, but opened at $164.75. Tesla shares last traded at $166.31, with a volume of 25,712,492 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TSLA has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Edward Jones cut shares of Tesla from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on Tesla from $220.00 to $190.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 18th. China Renaissance initiated coverage on Tesla in a report on Monday, February 26th. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "underweight" rating and set a $125.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research report on Monday. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on shares of Tesla from $300.00 to $280.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $203.89.

Tesla Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $530.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.66, a PEG ratio of 3.97 and a beta of 2.40. The company has a current ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $185.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $219.67.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.03). Tesla had a return on equity of 16.62% and a net margin of 15.50%. The business had revenue of $25.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.64 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.07 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Tesla

In other Tesla news, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 93,705 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.44, for a total transaction of $16,439,605.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 15,000 shares in the company, valued at $2,631,600. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, SVP Xiaotong Zhu sold 687 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.11, for a total transaction of $121,674.57. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 63,171 shares of the company's stock, valued at $11,188,215.81. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 93,705 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $175.44, for a total value of $16,439,605.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 15,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,631,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 198,598 shares of company stock valued at $36,952,434. 20.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of TSLA. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Tesla by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. now owns 472 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $509,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. City State Bank grew its stake in shares of Tesla by 3.3% during the third quarter. City State Bank now owns 1,260 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $315,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Tesla by 0.6% during the third quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 7,393 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $1,850,000 after buying an additional 41 shares during the period. Linscomb & Williams Inc. grew its stake in shares of Tesla by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Linscomb & Williams Inc. now owns 1,233 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $1,329,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the period. Finally, Investors Research Corp increased its stake in shares of Tesla by 5.5% in the 2nd quarter. Investors Research Corp now owns 801 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $210,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. 66.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.