Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Shares Down 1.7% – Here’s What Happened

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares fell 1.7% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $350.03 and last traded at $349.73. 28,410,360 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 63% from the average session volume of 76,066,023 shares. The stock had previously closed at $355.94.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TSLA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Tesla from $480.00 to $440.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Tesla from $295.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. KGI Securities raised shares of Tesla from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $276.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Tesla from $250.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Tesla from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $326.50.

Tesla Price Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $406.98 and a 200 day moving average of $306.79. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $1.14 trillion, a PE ratio of 173.01, a PEG ratio of 6.22 and a beta of 2.34.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last issued its earnings results 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Tesla

In other Tesla news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,606 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $374.21, for a total transaction of $975,191.26. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 108,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $40,775,792.65. The trade was a 2.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $352.54, for a total transaction of $35,254,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,903,716. This trade represents a 94.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 523,386 shares of company stock worth $195,995,200 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Hengehold Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Tesla by 1.8% in the 4th 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 Tesla by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI now owns 6,990 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $2,823,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Tesla by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC now owns 2,814 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $1,136,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Tesla by 0.3% during 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 acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vista Finance LLC raised its stake in shares of Tesla by 0.7% in 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 during the period. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.