Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Trading Down 2% Following Insider Selling

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares traded down 2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $335.90 and last traded at $338.94. 23,417,082 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 95,808,750 shares. The stock had previously closed at $346.00.

Specifically, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 112,390 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.44, for a total value of $35,339,911.60. Following the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Guggenheim upped their price target on Tesla from $153.00 to $156.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. New Street Research lowered Tesla from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Tesla from $265.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on shares of Tesla from $254.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, HSBC reaffirmed a “reduce” rating and set a $124.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a report on Friday, October 11th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have issued a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $230.18.

Tesla Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.10 trillion, a P/E ratio of 93.71, a PEG ratio of 10.42 and a beta of 2.29. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $259.42 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $224.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.84.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.14. Tesla had a return on equity of 10.24% and a net margin of 13.07%. The company had revenue of $25.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.53 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Tesla, Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tesla

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bank & Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Tesla in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Tesla in the second quarter worth $26,000. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Tesla by 168.8% during the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 129 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new position in Tesla in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Clean Yield Group grew its position in Tesla by 60.0% during the 3rd quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 128 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

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.