Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Stock Price Down 5.5% After Analyst Downgrade

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report)'s share price traded down 5.5% during mid-day trading on Monday after Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on the stock from $474.00 to $455.00. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the stock. Tesla traded as low as $243.36 and last traded at $249.11. 47,326,694 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 49% from the average session volume of 93,064,147 shares. The stock had previously closed at $263.55.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on TSLA. UBS Group dropped their price objective on shares of Tesla from $259.00 to $225.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $404.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Tesla from $440.00 to $320.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Roth Capital raised Tesla from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "cautious" rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $317.75.

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Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.63, for a total transaction of $41,163,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,222,802. The trade was a 94.88 % 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 2,672 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 26,950 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,242,273.50. This trade represents a 9.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 477,228 shares of company stock valued at $166,849,043 over the last three months. Insiders own 20.70% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its stake in Tesla by 79.5% in the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 70 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Horrell Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Tesla by 75.6% during the fourth quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. GS Investments Inc. grew its stake in Tesla by 193.3% during the fourth quarter. GS Investments Inc. now owns 88 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Navigoe LLC bought a new stake in Tesla in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Tesla in the 4th quarter worth $38,000. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Tesla Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $863.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 131.60, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $317.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $323.21. 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 released its quarterly 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 net margin of 7.26% and a return on equity of 10.31%. As a group, analysts forecast that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current 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.