Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Trading Down 7.9% on Analyst Downgrade

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s share price dropped 7.9% on Friday after The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on the stock from $320.00 to $275.00. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Tesla traded as low as $236.00 and last traded at $246.21. Approximately 66,027,949 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 30% from the average daily volume of 94,170,050 shares. The stock had previously closed at $267.28.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on TSLA. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Tesla from $259.00 to $225.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 10th. Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Tesla from $373.00 to $280.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Tesla from $135.00 to $120.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $404.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a report on Monday, March 17th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Tesla has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $312.65.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,672 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.73, for a total value of $718,046.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 26,950 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,242,273.50. This represents a 9.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director James R. Murdoch sold 54,776 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.79, for a total value of $13,189,513.04. Following the sale, the director now owns 477,011 shares in the company, valued at $114,859,478.69. This represents a 10.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 477,228 shares of company stock worth $166,849,043. 20.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

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

Tesla Price Performance

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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $305.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $323.56. The stock has a market cap of $770.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 117.37, a PEG ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.58.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) 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 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, research analysts anticipate 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.