Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Shares Down 3.2% Following Analyst Downgrade

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) shares traded down 3.2% on Monday after Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on the stock from $125.00 to $120.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an underweight rating on the stock. Tesla traded as low as $164.64 and last traded at $165.64. 33,541,844 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 67% from the average session volume of 101,339,289 shares. The stock had previously closed at $171.05.

Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of Tesla from $200.00 to $189.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Tesla in a report on Wednesday, January 24th. They set a "sell" rating and a $170.00 price objective for the company. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Tesla from $125.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, December 15th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Tesla from $250.00 to $225.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Tesla from $320.00 to $310.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Tesla currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $198.81.

Insider Transactions at Tesla

In other news, SVP Andrew D. Baglino sold 10,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.20, for a total transaction of $1,850,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 31,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,502,726. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, SVP Andrew D. Baglino sold 10,500 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $176.20, for a total transaction of $1,850,100.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,502,726. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Xiaotong Zhu sold 687 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $177.11, for a total transaction of $121,674.57. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 63,171 shares in the company, valued at $11,188,215.81. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 209,098 shares of company stock worth $38,802,534. 20.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tesla

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Tesla in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Wyrmwood Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Tesla in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Lam Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Tesla in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Halpern Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Tesla by 1,111.1% in the 3rd quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. now owns 109 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Alpha Paradigm Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Tesla in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Tesla Stock Down 5.6 %

The stock has a market cap of $514.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.39, a P/E/G ratio of 4.50 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 stock's 50-day moving average price is $181.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $214.30.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $25.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.64 billion. Tesla had a return on equity of 16.62% and a net margin of 15.50%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.07 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Tesla, Inc. will post 1.98 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.