Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Stock Price Down 1.7% on Analyst Downgrade

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s stock price fell 1.7% on Friday after Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on the stock from $227.00 to $224.00. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Tesla traded as low as $195.11 and last traded at $195.52. 21,308,727 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 99,777,867 shares. The stock had previously closed at $198.84.

TSLA has been the topic of a number of other research reports. China Renaissance upgraded Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $290.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on shares of Tesla from $222.00 to $254.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 3rd. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Tesla from $180.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Tesla from $162.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have issued a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Tesla has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $204.21.

Insider Activity

In other Tesla news, SVP Xiaotong Zhu sold 650 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $174.21, for a total transaction of $113,236.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 65,155 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,350,652.55. The transaction 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 company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 66,364 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $219.96, for a total value of $14,597,425.44. Following the transaction, the director now owns 85,000 shares in the company, valued at $18,696,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 25.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Rathbones Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of Tesla by 6.0% in the second quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 116,688 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $23,090,000 after purchasing an additional 6,629 shares in the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Tesla by 152.6% during the 2nd quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 346 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $68,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares during the period. Plato Investment Management Ltd raised its position in Tesla by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 58,129 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $11,503,000 after purchasing an additional 1,952 shares in the last quarter. Nia Impact Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Tesla by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Nia Impact Advisors LLC now owns 5,616 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $1,111,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the period. Finally, Pinion Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Tesla by 3.1% during the second quarter. Pinion Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,499 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $2,078,000 after buying an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. 66.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Tesla Price Performance

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $211.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $190.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $633.94 billion, a PE ratio of 49.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.18 and a beta of 2.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.91 and a quick ratio of 1.40.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.62 by ($0.10). The firm had revenue of $25.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $24.38 billion. Tesla had a return on equity of 10.41% and a net margin of 13.00%. Tesla’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.78 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Tesla, Inc. will post 1.79 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.