Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Stock Price Down 3.2% – Time to Sell?

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s stock price fell 3.2% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $412.66 and last traded at $414.59. 27,683,978 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 64% from the average session volume of 76,062,891 shares. The stock had previously closed at $428.22.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on TSLA. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Tesla from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Guggenheim raised their price target on Tesla from $156.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on shares of Tesla from $298.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Tesla from $400.00 to $430.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “underperform” rating and set a $120.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have issued a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $299.33.

Tesla Trading Down 4.1 %

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $382.71 and a 200 day simple moving average of $284.69. The firm has a market cap of $1.32 trillion, a P/E ratio of 112.87, a P/E/G ratio of 6.53 and a beta of 2.30. 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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $25.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.47 billion. Tesla had a net margin of 13.07% and a return on equity of 10.24%. Tesla’s revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.53 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Tesla, Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Tesla

In other news, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 112,390 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now owns 85,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,727,400. This represents a 56.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.76, for a total value of $1,007,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 105,032 shares in the company, valued at $26,442,856.32. This trade represents a 3.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 621,886 shares of company stock valued at $213,451,751. Corporate insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of TSLA. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 59,356,401 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $15,469,792,000 after buying an additional 1,022,589 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its holdings in Tesla by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 24,741,075 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $6,473,008,000 after buying an additional 828,308 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Tesla by 13.7% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 24,377,822 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $6,377,970,000 after acquiring an additional 2,946,763 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Tesla by 1.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,545,824 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $4,328,884,000 after purchasing an additional 301,968 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Tesla by 11.9% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 12,201,212 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $3,192,203,000 after buying an additional 1,294,093 shares during the last quarter. 66.20% of the stock is 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.