Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Shares Down 0.4% – Should You Sell?

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares were down 0.4% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $271.28 and last traded at $277.30. Approximately 63,942,860 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 30% from the average daily volume of 91,569,636 shares. The stock had previously closed at $278.39.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on TSLA shares. Benchmark initiated coverage on Tesla in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $475.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com cut Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Roth Mkm upgraded shares of Tesla from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $85.00 to $380.00 in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Tesla from $135.00 to $130.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Finally, Glj Research restated a “buy” rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $319.12.

Tesla Trading Up 0.9 %

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $327.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $321.69. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $882.71 billion, a PE ratio of 134.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 analysts forecast that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director James R. Murdoch sold 54,776 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $240.79, for a total value of $13,189,513.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 477,011 shares in the company, valued at $114,859,478.69. This trade represents a 10.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,672 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $268.73, for a total transaction of $718,046.56. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 26,950 shares in the company, valued at $7,242,273.50. The trade was a 9.02 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 477,228 shares of company stock valued at $166,849,043 over the last ninety days. 20.70% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Tesla

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its stake in Tesla by 79.5% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. GS Investments Inc. grew 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 purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Navigoe LLC bought a new stake in Tesla in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in Tesla during the fourth quarter valued at about $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.