Cfra Research Downgrades Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) to Hold

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Cfra Research from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on TSLA. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $350.00 price target (up previously from $315.00) on shares of Tesla in a research report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Tesla from $195.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Tesla from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. BNP Paribas set a $137.00 price objective on shares of Tesla and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, HSBC lowered their target price on Tesla from $165.00 to $130.00 and set a "reduce" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Tesla currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $283.24.

Tesla Stock Performance

TSLA stock opened at $251.07 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $807.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 123.07, a PEG ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.58. Tesla has a twelve month low of $157.51 and a twelve month high of $488.54. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $267.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $322.05.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.27 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.26). The company 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 previous year, the business earned $0.45 EPS. Analysts predict that Tesla will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,672 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.73, for a total transaction of $718,046.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 26,950 shares in the company, valued at $7,242,273.50. This trade represents a 9.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 112,390 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $384.04, for a total transaction of $43,162,255.60. Following the completion of the sale, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 374,228 shares of company stock valued at $123,791,123 in the last three months. 20.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of TSLA. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Tesla by 86.3% in the 1st quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 95 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. First PREMIER Bank boosted its position in shares of Tesla by 79.2% during the first quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 95 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the period. Newton One Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Tesla by 250.0% in the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 105 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its holdings in Tesla by 79.5% during the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 70 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the period. Finally, Horrell Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Tesla by 75.6% in the 4th quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 34 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.