Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Trading Down 1.8% After Analyst Downgrade

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report)'s share price dropped 1.8% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Piper Sandler lowered their price target on the stock from $450.00 to $400.00. Piper Sandler currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Tesla traded as low as $247.03 and last traded at $249.62. Approximately 24,990,425 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 95,668,193 shares. The stock had previously closed at $254.11.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on TSLA. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Tesla from $474.00 to $455.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Tesla from $270.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Glj Research restated a "buy" rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an "overweight" rating and set a $425.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on Tesla from $225.00 to $190.00 and set a "sell" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $292.18.

Insider Buying and Selling at Tesla

In related news, Director James R. Murdoch sold 54,776 shares of the 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 of the company's stock, valued at $114,859,478.69. This represents a 10.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 112,390 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the director now owns 85,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,643,400. This trade represents a 56.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 374,228 shares of company stock worth $123,791,123 over the last 90 days. 20.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Tesla

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Tesla during the 4th quarter valued at about $14,420,248,000. FMR LLC raised its position in Tesla by 40.1% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Tesla by 27,378.6% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 9,812,316 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $2,542,960,000 after acquiring an additional 9,776,607 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its stake in shares of Tesla by 36,790.0% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 8,660,672 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $3,497,526,000 after purchasing an additional 8,637,195 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in shares of Tesla by 4,963.0% in the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,834,707 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $2,356,288,000 after purchasing an additional 5,719,466 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.20% of the company's stock.

Tesla Price Performance

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 stock's fifty day moving average is $273.93 and its 200-day moving average is $322.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $775.71 billion, a PE ratio of 118.22, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.58.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 EPS 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%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.