Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Stock Price Down 2.2% – What’s Next?

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s stock price traded down 2.2% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $344.81 and last traded at $346.64. 19,923,669 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 73,747,266 shares. The stock had previously closed at $354.40.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. KGI Securities upgraded shares of Tesla from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $276.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Benchmark began coverage on shares of Tesla in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $475.00 price target for the company. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Tesla from $226.00 to $259.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Tesla from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Roth Mkm upgraded shares of Tesla from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $85.00 to $380.00 in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $326.50.

Tesla Price Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $402.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $311.43. The stock has a market cap of $1.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 165.98, a PEG ratio of 5.97 and a beta of 2.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 2.02.

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

Insider Activity

In other Tesla news, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 112,390 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.06, for a total value of $39,792,803.40. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 85,000 shares in the company, valued at $30,095,100. This represents a 56.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $354.43, for a total value of $2,481,010.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 105,032 shares in the company, valued at $37,226,491.76. This trade represents a 6.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 523,386 shares of company stock worth $195,995,200. Company insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of TSLA. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Tesla in the fourth quarter worth $14,420,248,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Tesla by 35,611.2% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 11,054,391 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $2,892,160,000 after acquiring an additional 11,023,436 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Tesla by 40.1% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 34,661,400 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $13,997,660,000 after acquiring an additional 9,920,325 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC lifted its stake in shares of Tesla by 36,790.0% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 8,660,672 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $3,497,526,000 after acquiring an additional 8,637,195 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Tesla by 4,963.0% in the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,834,707 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $2,356,288,000 after purchasing an additional 5,719,466 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

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.