Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Trading Down 3.5% – Here’s What Happened

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares traded down 3.5% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $435.09 and last traded at $445.91. 102,764,959 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 2% from the average session volume of 101,069,930 shares. The stock had previously closed at $462.07.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald set a $510.00 price target on shares of Tesla and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Tesla from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $320.00 to $548.00 in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Tesla in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $483.00 price target on shares of Tesla and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, CICC Research increased their price target on shares of Tesla from $360.00 to $450.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and eleven have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $391.08.

Tesla Price Performance

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $417.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $352.68. The company has a quick ratio of 1.67, a current ratio of 2.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a market cap of $1.48 trillion, a PE ratio of 297.27, a P/E/G ratio of 16.84 and a beta of 2.08.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 22nd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $28.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $24.98 billion. Tesla had a net margin of 5.51% and a return on equity of 6.61%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.72 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Tesla

In related news, Director James R. Murdoch sold 60,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $422.68, for a total value of $25,360,800.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 637,031 shares in the company, valued at approximately $269,260,263.08. The trade was a 8.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,606 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $352.38, for a total transaction of $918,302.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 9,856 shares in the company, valued at $3,473,057.28. This trade represents a 20.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 202,606 shares of company stock valued at $75,588,902. 19.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tesla

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of TSLA. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Tesla by 11.8% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 87,929 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $35,509,000 after buying an additional 9,293 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Tesla by 21.2% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,317 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $2,147,000 after buying an additional 931 shares in the last quarter. Bison Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Tesla by 52.2% in the 4th quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 10,368 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $4,187,000 after buying an additional 3,558 shares in the last quarter. 49 Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Tesla by 8.0% during the first quarter. 49 Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,138 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $295,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. Finally, Trek Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Tesla by 14.2% during the first quarter. Trek Financial LLC now owns 23,916 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $6,198,000 after buying an additional 2,978 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.