Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Trading Down 2.5% After Insider Selling

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s stock price fell 2.5% during trading on Wednesday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $380.02 and last traded at $382.40. 21,237,301 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 73,099,727 shares. The stock had previously closed at $392.21.

Specifically, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 108,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $41,745,581.15. The trade was a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 112,390 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $384.04, for a total value of $43,162,255.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 85,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $32,643,400. This represents a 56.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on TSLA shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Tesla from $411.00 to $492.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. New Street Research upgraded shares of Tesla from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $460.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, January 6th. Roth Mkm upgraded Tesla from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $380.00 in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Tesla in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have issued a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Tesla has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $322.29.

Tesla Stock Down 3.4 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company has a market cap of $1.16 trillion, a P/E ratio of 177.27, a PEG ratio of 6.79 and a beta of 2.34. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $407.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $302.76.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last released its quarterly earnings data 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%. Equities research analysts forecast that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new stake in Tesla during the third quarter worth about $29,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Tesla in the third quarter worth $35,000. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA bought a new position in shares of Tesla during the fourth quarter worth about $46,000. PayPay Securities Corp boosted its stake in shares of Tesla by 130.2% in the 4th quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 122 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Tesla in the 4th quarter valued at about $55,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.