Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Shares Down 3.7% Following Insider Selling

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s stock price traded down 3.7% during trading on Tuesday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $339.19 and last traded at $337.68. 34,553,744 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 53% from the average session volume of 73,030,281 shares. The stock had previously closed at $350.73.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on TSLA shares. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Tesla from $492.00 to $474.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Roth Capital upgraded shares of Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Guggenheim reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $175.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Tesla from $195.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Nine 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 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 $326.50.

Tesla Trading Up 2.4 %

The firm has a market cap of $1.08 trillion, a P/E ratio of 164.96, a PEG ratio of 6.22 and a beta of 2.34. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $407.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $306.23. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last released its quarterly 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 net margin of 7.26% and a return on equity of 10.31%. Analysts predict that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Tesla

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC boosted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 18.2% during 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. Creative Planning boosted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 28.3% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 896,484 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $221,677,000 after buying an additional 197,839 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,098,717 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $287,457,000 after buying an additional 29,669 shares in the last quarter. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 36,056 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $9,433,000 after buying an additional 1,380 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First United Bank & Trust boosted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 222.3% during the 3rd quarter. First United Bank & Trust now owns 1,776 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $465,000 after buying an additional 1,225 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.