Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Trading Down 2.4% – Here’s Why

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s share price fell 2.4% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $348.00 and last traded at $352.03. 20,097,038 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 74,627,320 shares. The stock had previously closed at $360.56.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on TSLA. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Tesla from $480.00 to $440.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on Tesla from $298.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Tesla from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Mizuho reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $515.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $326.50.

Tesla Stock Performance

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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $400.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $312.40. The stock has a market cap of $1.09 trillion, a P/E ratio of 165.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.34.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.08). Tesla had a net margin of 7.26% and a return on equity of 10.31%. On average, equities analysts expect that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Tesla

In related news, Director Kimbal Musk sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $367.87, for a total value of $27,590,250.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 1,463,220 shares in the company, valued at $538,274,741.40. This represents a 4.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $413.56, for a total value of $2,894,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 108,965 shares in the company, valued at $45,063,565.40. The trade was a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 523,386 shares of company stock valued at $195,995,200 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Tesla

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake in shares of Tesla by 79.5% in the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 70 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Tesla by 75.6% in the 4th quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. GS Investments Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 193.3% during the 4th quarter. GS Investments Inc. now owns 88 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Navigoe LLC bought a new position in shares of Tesla during the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Tesla during the 4th quarter valued at $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Tesla Company Profile

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.