Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Shares Down 3.9% After Insider Selling

Shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) traded down 3.9% on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $264.40 and last traded at $268.19. 33,677,910 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 58% from the average session volume of 80,441,977 shares. The stock had previously closed at $279.10.

Specifically, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.02, for a total transaction of $1,776,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 23,084 shares in the company, valued at $6,833,325.68. This trade represents a 20.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 112,390 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $299.61, for a total value of $33,673,167.90. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 85,000 shares in the company, valued at $25,466,850. This trade represents a 56.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “sell” rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Glj Research reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $24.86 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Tesla from $195.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Tesla from $492.00 to $474.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Roth Mkm upgraded Tesla from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $380.00 in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $313.15.

Tesla Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $863.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 131.47, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50. 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $374.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $318.13.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last released 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%. On average, analysts expect that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Tesla

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its position in Tesla by 79.5% in the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 70 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Tesla by 75.6% in the fourth quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. GS Investments Inc. grew its position in Tesla by 193.3% during the 4th quarter. GS Investments Inc. now owns 88 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Navigoe LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Tesla in the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Tesla during the fourth quarter worth about $38,000. 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.