Phillip Securities Downgrades Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) to Strong Sell

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) was downgraded by research analysts at Phillip Securities from a "moderate sell" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts have also commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $295.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Wedbush upped their target price on Tesla from $300.00 to $400.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Tesla from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, KGI Securities raised Tesla from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $276.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $230.18.

Tesla Trading Up 3.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ TSLA traded up $9.54 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $320.72. The stock had a trading volume of 114,160,487 shares, compared to its average volume of 96,026,047. The business's fifty day moving average price is $250.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $219.58. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm has a market cap of $1.03 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 87.49, a P/E/G ratio of 10.73 and a beta of 2.29. Tesla has a 52-week low of $138.80 and a 52-week high of $358.64.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.14. The company had revenue of $25.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.47 billion. Tesla had a return on equity of 10.24% and a net margin of 13.07%. Tesla's revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.53 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Tesla will post 1.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Tesla

In related news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $1,000,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 105,032 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,258,000. This represents a 3.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Xiaotong Zhu sold 297 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $221.77, for a total value of $65,865.69. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 67,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,967,479.07. The trade was a 0.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 188,797 shares of company stock worth $57,616,781 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 20.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Tesla

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TSLA. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Tesla by 35,611.2% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 11,054,391 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $2,892,160,000 after purchasing an additional 11,023,436 shares during the period. Clean Energy Transition LLP increased its position in shares of Tesla by 347.7% during the second quarter. Clean Energy Transition LLP now owns 4,818,600 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $953,505,000 after acquiring an additional 6,764,300 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its position in shares of Tesla by 21,816.0% during the second quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 5,902,416 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $1,167,970,000 after acquiring an additional 5,875,484 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of Tesla by 13.7% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 24,377,822 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $6,377,970,000 after acquiring an additional 2,946,763 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Tesla by 52.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,344,526 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $1,921,548,000 after acquiring an additional 2,511,488 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.20% of the company's stock.

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.