Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Shares Down 1.8% After Earnings Miss

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s stock price traded down 1.8% on Wednesday following a weaker than expected earnings announcement. The company traded as low as $390.65 and last traded at $390.86. 14,591,859 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 70,774,664 shares. The stock had previously closed at $398.09.

The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.08). Tesla had a return on equity of 10.54% and a net margin of 7.26%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on TSLA. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price target on Tesla from $254.00 to $278.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. HSBC reissued a “reduce” rating and set a $124.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a report on Friday, October 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Tesla from $295.00 to $370.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Tesla from $195.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Tesla from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $318.31.

Insider Activity

In other Tesla news, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 112,390 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.44, for a total value of $35,339,911.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 85,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,727,400. The trade was a 56.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.02, for a total value of $34,602,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,400 shares in the company, valued at $1,868,508. This trade represents a 94.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 553,386 shares of company stock worth $196,305,796 in the last three months. 20.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TSLA. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Tesla by 35,611.2% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 11,054,391 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $2,892,160,000 after acquiring an additional 11,023,436 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its holdings in shares of Tesla by 36,790.0% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 8,660,672 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $3,497,526,000 after acquiring an additional 8,637,195 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Tesla by 194.7% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,486,739 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $2,215,765,000 after acquiring an additional 3,624,910 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of Tesla by 13.7% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 24,377,822 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $6,377,970,000 after acquiring an additional 2,946,763 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Tesla by 52.0% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,344,526 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $1,921,548,000 after buying an additional 2,511,488 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Tesla Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.32 trillion, a P/E ratio of 202.47, a P/E/G ratio of 8.08 and a beta of 2.30. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $403.18 and a 200-day moving average of $297.99.

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.