Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Shares Down 0.3% Following Analyst Downgrade

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report)'s share price fell 0.3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after Bank of America lowered their price target on the stock from $490.00 to $380.00. Bank of America currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Tesla traded as low as $267.71 and last traded at $271.18. 35,247,910 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 56% from the average session volume of 80,167,531 shares. The stock had previously closed at $272.04.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Tesla from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. StockNews.com lowered Tesla from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Tesla from $195.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "in-line" rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Roth Capital raised shares of Tesla from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "mixed" rating on shares of Tesla in a research note on Saturday, February 8th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $315.33.

Insider Transactions at Tesla

In related news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,606 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $374.21, for a total transaction of $975,191.26. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 108,965 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $40,775,792.65. This represents a 2.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.63, for a total value of $41,163,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,222,802. This represents a 94.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 303,996 shares of company stock worth $118,467,387. 20.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TSLA. Hengehold Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Tesla by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 1,347 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $544,000 after buying an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI boosted its stake in shares of Tesla by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI now owns 6,990 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $2,823,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Tesla by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC now owns 2,814 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $1,136,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,305 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $2,950,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vista Finance LLC increased its stake in Tesla by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vista Finance LLC now owns 3,510 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $1,417,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.20% of the company's stock.

Tesla Trading Down 0.8 %

The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock has a market cap of $867.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 132.53, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.34. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $378.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $318.40.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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%. On average, research analysts forecast 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.

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