Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

Key Points

• Tesla's shares gapped down from $438.97 to $420.00 after Canaccord Genuity lowered its price target from $490.00 to $482.00, despite maintaining a buy rating on the stock.
• The current consensus among analysts is a "Hold" rating with an average price target of $375.50; Tesla's recent earnings report revealed a net margin of 6.54% and revenue of $28.10 billion for the quarter.
• Insiders sold a total of 202,606 shares worth $75.59 million in the last quarter, with significant sales reported from CFO Vaibhav Taneja and Director James R. Murdoch, indicating potential concerns about the stock's future performance.

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Thursday after Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price target on the stock from $490.00 to $482.00. The stock had previously closed at $438.97, but opened at $420.00. Canaccord Genuity Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Tesla shares last traded at $424.92, with a volume of 23,000,783 shares.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on TSLA. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Dbs Bank increased their price target on shares of Tesla from $300.00 to $450.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 17th. CICC Research raised their target price on shares of Tesla from $360.00 to $450.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. China Renaissance reaffirmed a "hold" rating and issued a $349.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a "sell" rating and issued a $175.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and ten have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $375.50.

Insider Activity at Tesla

In related news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,606 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $352.38, for a total value of $918,302.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 9,856 shares in the company, valued at $3,473,057.28. The trade was a 20.91% 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 James R. Murdoch sold 60,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $422.68, for a total transaction of $25,360,800.00. Following the sale, the director owned 637,031 shares in the company, valued at approximately $269,260,263.08. This trade represents a 8.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 202,606 shares of company stock worth $75,588,902 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 19.90% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Tesla

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of TSLA. Chapman Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Tesla during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI purchased a new stake in Tesla during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Chelsea Counsel Co. grew its holdings in Tesla by 59.7% during the 1st quarter. Chelsea Counsel Co. now owns 107 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Centennial Bank AR grew its holdings in shares of Tesla by 833.3% in the first quarter. Centennial Bank AR now owns 112 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LGT Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Tesla in the second quarter valued at $29,000. 66.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Tesla Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $1.41 trillion, a P/E ratio of 245.59, a P/E/G ratio of 15.91 and a beta of 2.08. The business has a 50-day moving average of $393.73 and a 200-day moving average of $336.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 2.04 and a quick ratio of 1.55.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.02. Tesla had a return on equity of 7.98% and a net margin of 6.54%.The business had revenue of $28.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.98 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.72 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS 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.

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