Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Shares Down 7% Following Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) dropped 7% during trading on Monday after Cfra Research downgraded the stock from a moderate buy rating to a hold rating. The stock traded as low as $223.67 and last traded at $224.45. Approximately 35,323,137 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 63% from the average daily volume of 95,801,441 shares. The stock had previously closed at $241.37.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Raymond James lowered Tesla to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Mizuho cut their price objective on Tesla from $375.00 to $325.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on Tesla from $420.00 to $345.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 28th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Tesla from $314.00 to $307.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Tesla from $474.00 to $455.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Tesla has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $287.46.

Insider Transactions at Tesla

In other Tesla news, 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 transaction of $43,162,255.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 85,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,643,400. The trade was a 56.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $1,000,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 26,950 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,737,500. This represents a 12.92 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 374,228 shares of company stock worth $123,791,123. Insiders own 20.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tesla

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Tesla by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 243,193,181 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $98,211,134,000 after acquiring an additional 3,571,793 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Tesla by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 61,011,604 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $24,566,217,000 after purchasing an additional 1,655,203 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Tesla during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $14,420,248,000. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Tesla by 40.1% during 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 position in Tesla by 21.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 28,579,615 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $11,541,592,000 after buying an additional 5,075,418 shares during the last quarter. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Tesla Price Performance

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $265.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $322.18. The company has a market cap of $916.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 139.68, a PEG ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 1.61.

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