Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Shares Down 2.4% on Analyst Downgrade

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report)'s share price fell 2.4% on Wednesday after Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on the stock from $185.00 to $165.00. Jefferies Financial Group currently has a hold rating on the stock. Tesla traded as low as $170.72 and last traded at $172.55. 32,135,359 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 69% from the average session volume of 102,156,047 shares. The stock had previously closed at $176.88.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on Tesla in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. They issued a "sell" rating and a $170.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Tesla from $190.00 to $175.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Tesla from $193.00 to $176.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Tesla from $300.00 to $280.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on Tesla from $250.00 to $225.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $199.59.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 93,705 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.44, for a total value of $16,439,605.20. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,631,600. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Tesla news, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 93,705 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was 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 owns 15,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,631,600. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Andrew D. Baglino sold 10,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.17, for a total value of $2,143,785.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 31,230 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,376,229.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 209,098 shares of company stock valued at $38,802,534. 20.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tesla

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Tesla during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Wyrmwood Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Tesla during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Lam Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Tesla during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Alpha Paradigm Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Tesla during the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Halpern Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of Tesla by 1,111.1% during the third quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. now owns 109 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.20% of the company's stock.

Tesla Trading Down 2.9 %

The company has a market cap of $547.02 billion, a PE ratio of 39.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 2.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a current ratio of 1.73 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The company has a 50-day moving average of $182.77 and a 200 day moving average of $215.81.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $25.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $25.64 billion. Tesla had a return on equity of 16.62% and a net margin of 15.50%. The company's revenue was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.07 EPS. Analysts predict that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.27 earnings per share 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.