Baird R W Downgrades Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) to Hold

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) was downgraded by stock analysts at Baird R W from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on TSLA. Cfra Research downgraded Tesla from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Roth Mkm reduced their price target on Tesla from $450.00 to $395.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $350.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wedbush set a $500.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler set a $400.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Tesla has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $293.67.

Tesla Trading Up 5.7%

Tesla stock traded up $17.51 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $326.09. 150,182,854 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 100,230,128. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $292.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $333.20. Tesla has a 52-week low of $167.41 and a 52-week high of $488.54. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $1.05 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 159.85, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.47.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.26). The firm had revenue of $19.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.93 billion. Tesla had a net margin of 7.26% and a return on equity of 10.31%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.45 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Tesla will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Joseph Gebbia purchased 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 24th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $256.31 per share, with a total value of $1,025,240.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 4,111 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,053,690.41. This trade represents a 3,603.60% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Ira Matthew Ehrenpreis sold 477,572 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $357.30, for a total value of $170,636,475.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 855,394 shares of the company's stock, valued at $305,632,276.20. The trade was a 35.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 818,509 shares of company stock valued at $273,791,775 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 20.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tesla

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Tesla by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 246,887,705 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $63,983,418,000 after acquiring an additional 3,694,524 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Tesla by 2.8% during the fourth 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 purchasing an additional 1,655,203 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Tesla in the fourth quarter worth about $14,420,248,000. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Tesla by 40.1% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 34,661,400 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $13,997,660,000 after buying an additional 9,920,325 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Tesla by 21.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 28,579,615 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $11,541,592,000 after buying an additional 5,075,418 shares in the last quarter. 66.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.