Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Shares Down 0.7% – Time to Sell?

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s share price was down 0.7% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $410.35 and last traded at $412.36. Approximately 20,793,147 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 73% from the average daily volume of 76,039,648 shares. The stock had previously closed at $415.11.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on TSLA. KGI Securities upgraded Tesla from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $276.00 price objective for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Tesla from $270.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “underperform” rating and set a $120.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Wedbush increased their target price on shares of Tesla from $515.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Tesla from $250.00 to $345.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $313.84.

Tesla Trading Down 1.4 %

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $398.82 and a 200-day moving average of $294.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.31 trillion, a P/E ratio of 111.39, a PEG ratio of 8.42 and a beta of 2.30.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $25.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.47 billion. Tesla had a return on equity of 10.24% and a net margin of 13.07%. The company’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.53 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Tesla news, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.63, for a total value of $41,163,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,400 shares in the company, valued at $2,222,802. The trade was a 94.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,606 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $374.21, for a total transaction of $975,191.26. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 108,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,775,792.65. This represents a 2.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 617,886 shares of company stock worth $212,451,751 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Tesla

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hengehold Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Tesla by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 1,347 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $544,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI grew its holdings in shares of Tesla by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI now owns 6,990 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $2,823,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Tesla by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC now owns 2,814 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $1,136,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Tesla by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,305 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $2,950,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Finally, Prospect Financial Services LLC increased its position in Tesla by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Prospect Financial Services LLC now owns 7,500 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $3,029,000 after acquiring an additional 26 shares during the period. 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.