Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Hits New 12-Month Low After Analyst Downgrade

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s share price reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday after Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded the stock from a buy rating to a hold rating. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft now has a $123.00 price target on the stock, down from their previous price target of $189.00. Tesla traded as low as $148.70 and last traded at $149.85, with a volume of 21207353 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $155.45.

TSLA has been the subject of several other reports. HSBC decreased their target price on Tesla from $143.00 to $138.00 and set a “reduce” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Tesla from $320.00 to $310.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Tesla from $185.00 to $165.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Tesla from $125.00 to $120.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Tesla from $190.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, sixteen have issued a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $194.70.

Insider Buying and Selling at Tesla

In other news, SVP Andrew D. Baglino sold 10,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.20, for a total transaction of $1,850,100.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 31,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,502,726. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 93,705 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $175.44, for a total transaction of $16,439,605.20. Following the sale, the director now owns 15,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,631,600. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Andrew D. Baglino sold 10,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $176.20, for a total value of $1,850,100.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 31,230 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,502,726. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 209,098 shares of company stock worth $38,802,534. Corporate insiders own 25.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tesla

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Tesla by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. MidWestOne Financial Group Inc. now owns 472 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $509,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. City State Bank grew its holdings in Tesla by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. City State Bank now owns 1,260 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $315,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Tesla by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,353 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $1,089,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Holderness Investments Co. grew its holdings in Tesla by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Holderness Investments Co. now owns 2,599 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $650,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Linscomb & Williams Inc. grew its holdings in Tesla by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Linscomb & Williams Inc. now owns 1,233 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $1,329,000 after buying an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Tesla Trading Down 3.6 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.73. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $179.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $212.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $477.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.15 and a beta of 2.39.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $25.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.64 billion. Tesla had a return on equity of 16.62% and a net margin of 15.50%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.07 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Tesla, Inc. will post 1.97 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.