Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Stock Price Down 1.8% Following Analyst Downgrade

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report)'s share price dropped 1.8% on Wednesday after Piper Sandler lowered their price target on the stock from $450.00 to $400.00. Piper Sandler currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Tesla traded as low as $247.03 and last traded at $249.62. Approximately 24,990,425 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 95,668,193 shares. The stock had previously closed at $254.11.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on TSLA. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on Tesla from $420.00 to $345.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 28th. Benchmark decreased their price target on shares of Tesla from $475.00 to $350.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Tesla from $195.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "in-line" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Tesla from $135.00 to $120.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price target on Tesla from $373.00 to $280.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $292.18.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 112,390 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $384.04, for a total value of $43,162,255.60. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 85,000 shares in the company, valued at $32,643,400. This trade represents a 56.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,672 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.73, for a total transaction of $718,046.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 26,950 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,242,273.50. The trade was a 9.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 374,228 shares of company stock valued at $123,791,123. 20.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in TSLA. Wolf Group Capital Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Tesla during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $876,000. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Tesla by 9.7% in the 1st quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Management LLC now owns 18,399 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $4,768,000 after buying an additional 1,622 shares in the last quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC raised its position in Tesla by 4.4% during the first quarter. Shepherd Financial Partners LLC now owns 8,720 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $2,260,000 after acquiring an additional 369 shares during the last quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc grew its position in shares of Tesla by 10.4% in the first quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc now owns 8,657 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $2,244,000 after purchasing an additional 817 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Market Street Wealth Management Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Tesla by 57.9% in the 1st quarter. Market Street Wealth Management Advisors LLC now owns 1,857 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $481,000 after buying an additional 681 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.20% of the company's stock.

Tesla Trading Down 0.2 %

The stock has a market cap of $775.71 billion, a PE ratio of 118.22, a PEG ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.58. The business has a 50-day moving average of $273.93 and a 200 day moving average of $322.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 2.02.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.08). Tesla had a return on equity of 10.31% and a net margin of 7.26%. Equities research analysts predict that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS 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.