Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Shares Down 1.3% on Analyst Downgrade

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) dropped 1.3% on Thursday after Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on the stock from $293.00 to $227.00. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Tesla traded as low as $180.72 and last traded at $182.46. Approximately 18,893,434 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 96,028,906 shares. The stock had previously closed at $184.86.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Truist Financial cut their target price on Tesla from $176.00 to $162.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Tesla in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their target price on shares of Tesla from $234.00 to $222.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. HSBC reduced their price target on shares of Tesla from $138.00 to $120.00 and set a “reduce” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $275.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a research note on Friday, June 14th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $183.62.

Insider Activity at Tesla

In other news, SVP Xiaotong Zhu sold 650 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.21, for a total value of $113,236.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 65,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,350,652.55. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Xiaotong Zhu sold 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $174.21, for a total value of $113,236.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 65,155 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,350,652.55. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 93,705 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $184.86, for a total transaction of $17,322,306.30. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 15,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,772,900. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 104,855 shares of company stock valued at $19,285,643 over the last three months. 25.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Tesla

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Apexium Financial LP grew its position in shares of Tesla by 736.8% during the fourth quarter. Apexium Financial LP now owns 24,954 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $6,201,000 after acquiring an additional 21,972 shares during the last quarter. Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Tesla by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,940 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $1,724,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Forum Financial Management LP increased its stake in shares of Tesla by 19.7% in the fourth quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 21,772 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $5,410,000 after purchasing an additional 3,582 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Tesla by 16.6% during the fourth quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 46,414 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $11,533,000 after buying an additional 6,615 shares during the period. Finally, Catalyst Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in Tesla by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 6,978 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $1,734,000 after buying an additional 598 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Tesla Trading Down 1.8 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.72, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $173.75 and a 200 day moving average of $194.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $579.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.32, a PEG ratio of 4.58 and a beta of 2.32.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35. The business had revenue of $21.30 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $22.15 billion. Tesla had a net margin of 14.37% and a return on equity of 13.18%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Tesla, Inc. will post 1.87 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.