Insider Selling: Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) CFO Sells $2,681,770.00 in Stock

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $383.11, for a total value of $2,681,770.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,965 shares in the company, valued at approximately $41,745,581.15. This trade represents a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Vaibhav Taneja also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Monday, January 6th, Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of Tesla stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $413.56, for a total transaction of $2,894,920.00.
• On Friday, December 6th, Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,606 shares of Tesla stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $374.21, for a total value of $975,191.26.
• On Monday, December 2nd, Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of Tesla stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.43, for a total value of $2,481,010.00.
• On Monday, November 11th, Vaibhav Taneja sold 4,000 shares of Tesla stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total transaction of $1,400,000.00.
• On Friday, November 8th, Vaibhav Taneja sold 8,000 shares of Tesla stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.37, for a total value of $2,402,960.00.

Tesla Stock Performance

Shares of TSLA stock opened at $361.62 on Friday. Tesla, Inc. has a 52 week low of $138.80 and a 52 week high of $488.54. The company has a market cap of $1.16 trillion, a PE ratio of 177.27, a P/E/G ratio of 6.79 and a beta of 2.34. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $407.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $302.76.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.08). Tesla had a return on equity of 10.31% and a net margin of 7.26%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.82 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Tesla from $195.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. KGI Securities upgraded shares of Tesla from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $276.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $440.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Mizuho reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $515.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $322.29.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tesla

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hengehold Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Tesla by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 1,347 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $544,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI lifted its position 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 grew its stake in Tesla by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC now owns 2,814 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $1,136,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Tesla by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,305 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $2,950,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vista Finance LLC raised its position in shares of Tesla by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vista Finance LLC now owns 3,510 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $1,417,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. 66.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.