Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Trading Down 3.8% Following Insider Selling

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s share price fell 3.8% during mid-day trading on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $316.28 and last traded at $317.80. 35,299,711 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 63% from the average session volume of 95,557,852 shares. The stock had previously closed at $330.24.

Specifically, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.02, for a total transaction of $34,602,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 5,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,868,508. This represents a 94.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total transaction of $1,400,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 105,032 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,761,200. The trade was a 3.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In other news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.37, for a total value of $2,402,960.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 105,032 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,548,461.84. This represents a 7.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on TSLA shares. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $310.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $245.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. New Street Research cut shares of Tesla from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $225.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. KGI Securities upgraded shares of Tesla from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $276.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Tesla from $236.00 to $249.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have given a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $228.24.

Tesla Trading Down 5.8 %

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $248.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $218.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.84. The stock has a market cap of $998.91 billion, a PE ratio of 87.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.67 and a beta of 2.29.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.72 EPS 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.47 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.53 EPS. Tesla’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Tesla, Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tesla

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. FSA Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Tesla in the 3rd quarter worth about $3,674,000. Cobblestone Capital Advisors LLC NY bought a new stake in shares of Tesla during the 3rd quarter valued at about $246,000. Tradition Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Tesla by 17.4% during the 3rd quarter. Tradition Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,490 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $1,960,000 after purchasing an additional 1,108 shares during the period. Kitching Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Tesla during the 3rd quarter valued at about $201,000. Finally, Widmann Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Tesla during the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,649,000. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by 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.