Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Trading Down 7% on Analyst Downgrade

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report)'s share price traded down 7% during mid-day trading on Monday after Cfra Research downgraded the stock from a moderate buy rating to a hold rating. The company traded as low as $223.67 and last traded at $224.45. 35,323,137 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 63% from the average session volume of 95,801,441 shares. The stock had previously closed at $241.37.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on TSLA. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on shares of Tesla from $404.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays decreased their price objective on Tesla from $325.00 to $275.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Glj Research reissued a "sell" rating and issued a $19.05 target price (down previously from $24.86) on shares of Tesla in a research note on Monday. Cowen upgraded Tesla from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, BNP Paribas set a $137.00 price objective on shares of Tesla and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $286.85.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Kimbal Musk sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $367.87, for a total value of $27,590,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,463,220 shares of the company's stock, valued at $538,274,741.40. This represents a 4.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $383.11, for a total transaction of $2,681,770.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 108,965 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $41,745,581.15. This represents a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 374,228 shares of company stock valued at $123,791,123 over the last 90 days. 20.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tesla

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in TSLA. J. L. Bainbridge & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Tesla by 15.6% in the first quarter. J. L. Bainbridge & Co. Inc. now owns 2,519 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $653,000 after buying an additional 340 shares during the period. Altus Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Tesla by 10.3% in the 1st quarter. Altus Wealth Management LLC now owns 925 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $240,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Tesla by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,619 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $4,566,000 after buying an additional 1,053 shares during the period. Capitol Family Office Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Tesla in the first quarter valued at about $69,000. Finally, Bordeaux Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Tesla by 25.5% in the 1st quarter. Bordeaux Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 36,941 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $9,574,000 after purchasing an additional 7,516 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 66.20% of the company's stock.

Tesla Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $834.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 127.21, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 2.02. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $267.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $322.05.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.26). The firm had revenue of $19.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $22.93 billion. Tesla had a net margin of 7.26% and a return on equity of 10.31%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.45 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal 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.