Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Trading Down 5.6% – Here’s What Happened

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) traded down 5.6% on Thursday . The company traded as low as $373.40 and last traded at $381.32. 50,006,608 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 47% from the average session volume of 94,854,445 shares. The stock had previously closed at $403.84.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on TSLA shares. Truist Financial reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $360.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Tesla from $310.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Tesla from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Tesla from $195.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Roth Mkm upgraded shares of Tesla from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $85.00 to $380.00 in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Tesla presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $283.39.

Tesla Price Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average of $359.54 and a two-hundred day moving average of $271.59. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm has a market cap of $1.32 trillion, a P/E ratio of 112.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.80 and a beta of 2.36.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,606 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 108,965 shares in the company, valued at $40,775,792.65. The trade was a 2.34 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kimbal Musk sold 60,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.23, for a total transaction of $15,138,915.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 1,563,220 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $391,164,540.60. The trade was a 3.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 514,886 shares of company stock valued at $169,393,831 over the last ninety days. 20.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tesla

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Connable Office Inc. increased its position in Tesla by 0.3% in the third quarter. Connable Office Inc. now owns 12,872 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $3,368,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Community Bank N.A. grew its stake in Tesla by 4.4% in the 3rd quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 908 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $238,000 after buying an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Holistic Financial Partners lifted its position in shares of Tesla by 1.0% during the third quarter. Holistic Financial Partners now owns 4,055 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $1,061,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. Sherrill & Hutchins Financial Advisory Inc boosted its stake in Tesla by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Sherrill & Hutchins Financial Advisory Inc now owns 3,058 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $800,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Finally, Altman Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Tesla by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Altman Advisors Inc. now owns 10,754 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $2,814,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in 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.