Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Stock Price Down 7.5% Following Analyst Downgrade

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) traded down 7.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Bank of America lowered their price target on the stock from $490.00 to $380.00. Bank of America currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Tesla traded as low as $261.84 and last traded at $263.37. 49,843,200 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 37% from the average session volume of 79,350,680 shares. The stock had previously closed at $284.65.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on TSLA. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Tesla from $195.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Roth Mkm upgraded shares of Tesla from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $380.00 in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Tesla from $351.00 to $373.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wedbush set a $302.80 price target on shares of Tesla in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “sell” rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $315.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Tesla news, Director Kimbal Musk sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $367.87, for a total transaction of $27,590,250.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 1,463,220 shares in the company, valued at approximately $538,274,741.40. This trade represents a 4.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,606 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $374.21, for a total value of $975,191.26. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 108,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,775,792.65. The trade was a 2.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 303,996 shares of company stock valued at $118,467,387. 20.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Tesla

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of TSLA. True Wealth Design LLC increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Tesla by 75.6% during the fourth quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. GS Investments Inc. raised its position in 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 acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Navigoe LLC purchased a new position in shares of Tesla during the 4th quarter worth $37,000. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust bought a new position in Tesla in the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Tesla Stock Down 4.4 %

The company has a 50-day moving average of $378.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $318.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 1.61. The company has a market capitalization of $875.24 billion, a PE ratio of 133.39, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.34.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.08). Tesla had a net margin of 7.26% and a return on equity of 10.31%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share 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.