Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Trading Down 3.7% After Insider Selling

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares dropped 3.7% during trading on Tuesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $339.19 and last traded at $337.68. Approximately 34,553,744 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 53% from the average daily volume of 73,030,281 shares. The stock had previously closed at $350.73.

Specifically, Director Kimbal Musk sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $367.87, for a total transaction of $27,590,250.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 1,463,220 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $538,274,741.40. This represents a 4.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $383.11, for a total transaction of $2,681,770.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 108,965 shares in the company, valued at $41,745,581.15. This represents a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In related news, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 112,390 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $384.04, for a total transaction of $43,162,255.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 85,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,643,400. This trade represents a 56.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on TSLA shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Tesla from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $515.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Tesla from $195.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and set a $365.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Roth Mkm raised shares of Tesla from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $85.00 to $380.00 in a report on Monday, December 2nd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $321.71.

Tesla Stock Down 6.3 %

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $408.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $305.46. The company has a market capitalization of $1.06 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 161.03, a P/E/G ratio of 6.22 and a beta of 2.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 1.61.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 EPS 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Tesla

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of TSLA. Carnegie Investment Counsel grew its holdings in Tesla by 29.6% in the third quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 6,630 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $1,735,000 after purchasing an additional 1,515 shares during the period. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC increased its position in Tesla by 18.2% in the 3rd quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC now owns 2,489 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $651,000 after buying an additional 384 shares in the last quarter. CX Institutional boosted its holdings in Tesla by 2.4% in the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 60,211 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $15,753,000 after acquiring an additional 1,435 shares in the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. grew its stake in Tesla by 399.8% in the third quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 30,074 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $7,868,000 after acquiring an additional 24,057 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning increased its holdings in shares of Tesla by 28.3% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 896,484 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $221,677,000 after acquiring an additional 197,839 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.