Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Shares Down 2.8% – Here’s Why

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) fell 2.8% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $326.59 and last traded at $328.86. 26,671,825 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 95,329,430 shares. The stock had previously closed at $338.23.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on TSLA shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Tesla from $249.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a report on Monday, November 18th. HSBC reissued a “reduce” rating and issued a $124.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a research report on Friday, October 11th. KGI Securities upgraded shares of Tesla from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $276.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Tesla from $265.00 to $350.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $231.06.

Tesla Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.84. The company has a market capitalization of $1.07 trillion, a P/E ratio of 91.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.81 and a beta of 2.29. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $272.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $230.60.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last announced its quarterly 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.47 billion. Tesla had a return on equity of 10.24% and a net margin of 13.07%. The business’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.53 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Tesla, Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 4,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $1,000,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 105,032 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,258,000. The trade was a 3.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Xiaotong Zhu sold 297 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $221.77, for a total transaction of $65,865.69. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 67,491 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,967,479.07. This trade represents a 0.44 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 301,187 shares of company stock worth $92,956,692 in the last quarter. 20.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in Tesla by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 144,482 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $37,801,000 after purchasing an additional 1,741 shares during the last quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd grew its position in shares of Tesla by 59.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 117,457 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $30,593,000 after buying an additional 43,685 shares during the period. Tyler Stone Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Tesla by 109.6% during the third quarter. Tyler Stone Wealth Management now owns 9,425 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $2,466,000 after buying an additional 4,929 shares during the last quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Tesla by 24.2% in the third quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 7,527 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $1,969,000 after buying an additional 1,467 shares during the period. Finally, Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC. boosted its stake in Tesla by 102.0% in the third quarter. Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC. now owns 5,598 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $1,465,000 after acquiring an additional 2,827 shares during the last quarter. 66.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.