Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Shares Down 2.3% on Analyst Downgrade

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s stock price dropped 2.3% 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 $151.91. Approximately 40,563,556 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 60% from the average daily volume of 101,070,063 shares. The stock had previously closed at $155.45.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on TSLA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Tesla from $130.00 to $115.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. China Renaissance started coverage on Tesla in a research note on Monday, February 26th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Tesla in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Mizuho reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $195.00 price target (down from $270.00) on shares of Tesla in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Tesla from $196.00 to $180.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 12th. Ten research 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 currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $194.70.

Insider Activity at Tesla

In other news, SVP Andrew D. Baglino sold 10,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $204.17, for a total value of $2,143,785.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,376,229.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 93,705 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 15,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,631,600. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Andrew D. Baglino sold 10,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $204.17, for a total value of $2,143,785.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 31,230 shares in the company, valued at $6,376,229.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 209,098 shares of company stock worth $38,802,534 in the last quarter. 25.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Tesla

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wyrmwood Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Tesla in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Lam Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Tesla in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Alpha Paradigm Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Tesla in the third quarter worth about $27,000. MayTech Global Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Tesla in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Mendota Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Tesla by 202.2% in the fourth quarter. Mendota Financial Group LLC now owns 136 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Tesla Stock Down 3.6 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.25, a current ratio of 1.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.05. The stock has a market cap of $477.50 billion, a PE ratio of 34.79, a P/E/G ratio of 4.15 and a beta of 2.39. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $179.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $212.21.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 24th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.71 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $25.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.64 billion. Tesla had a return on equity of 16.62% and a net margin of 15.50%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.07 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Tesla, Inc. will post 1.97 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.