Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Shares Down 3.4% Following Analyst Downgrade

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) shares traded down 3.4% during trading on Friday after UBS Group lowered their price target on the stock from $225.00 to $190.00. UBS Group currently has a sell rating on the stock. Tesla traded as low as $244.07 and last traded at $243.86. 44,806,066 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 53% from the average session volume of 95,562,223 shares. The stock had previously closed at $252.40.

TSLA has been the subject of several other reports. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Tesla from $373.00 to $280.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Evercore ISI boosted their price target 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. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $425.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on Tesla from $420.00 to $345.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $404.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a research note on Monday, March 17th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $298.59.

Insider Transactions at Tesla

In other news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $383.11, for a total value of $2,681,770.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,965 shares of the company's stock, valued at $41,745,581.15. This represents a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 112,390 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now owns 85,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $32,643,400. This represents a 56.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 374,228 shares of company stock worth $123,791,123. Company insiders own 20.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tesla

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake in shares of Tesla by 79.5% in the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 70 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Tesla by 75.6% in the 4th quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. GS Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 193.3% in the fourth quarter. GS Investments Inc. now owns 88 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Navigoe LLC bought a new stake in Tesla in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Tesla in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.20% of the company's stock.

Tesla Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $813.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 123.91, a PEG ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.58. 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 has a 50 day moving average price of $282.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $323.51.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.08). Tesla had a return on equity of 10.31% and a net margin of 7.26%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

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.