Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Shares Down 3.5% – Time to Sell?

Shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) traded down 3.5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $272.59 and last traded at $278.19. 51,663,422 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 44% from the average session volume of 91,657,482 shares. The stock had previously closed at $288.14.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TSLA has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Cowen upgraded shares of Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Tesla in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Guggenheim lowered their price objective on shares of Tesla from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a “sell” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Tesla from $270.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Tesla from $430.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Nine research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Tesla currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $318.34.

Tesla Trading Up 0.3 %

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $324.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $321.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $881.52 billion, a PE ratio of 133.11, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 1.61.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last posted 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, sell-side analysts expect that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Tesla

In other news, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 112,390 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $384.04, for a total transaction of $43,162,255.60. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 85,000 shares in the company, valued at $32,643,400. The trade was a 56.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were 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 directly owns 108,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,063,565.40. This represents a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 477,228 shares of company stock worth $166,849,043. Corporate insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Tesla

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TSLA. Milestone Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new position in Tesla during the fourth quarter worth about $1,186,000. Avant Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Tesla during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $519,000. Fire Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Tesla in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,424,000. Fulcrum Equity Management grew its position in Tesla by 4.7% in the fourth quarter. Fulcrum Equity Management now owns 1,103 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $445,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, M1 Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Tesla during the fourth quarter worth $863,000. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.