Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Shares Down 1.7% – Here’s Why

Shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) were down 1.7% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $350.03 and last traded at $349.73. Approximately 28,410,360 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 63% from the average daily volume of 76,066,023 shares. The stock had previously closed at $355.94.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on TSLA shares. StockNews.com lowered Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Tesla from $250.00 to $345.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Tesla from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $365.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, New Street Research upgraded Tesla from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $460.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Tesla currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $326.50.

Tesla Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $406.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $307.64. The firm has a market cap of $1.14 trillion, a PE ratio of 174.43, a P/E/G ratio of 6.22 and a beta of 2.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 1.61.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.08). Tesla had a return on equity of 10.31% and a net margin of 7.26%. Research analysts forecast that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Tesla

In other Tesla news, Director Kimbal Musk sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $367.87, for a total value of $27,590,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,463,220 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $538,274,741.40. This represents a 4.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $413.56, for a total transaction of $2,894,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 108,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,063,565.40. This trade represents a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 523,386 shares of company stock worth $195,995,200. 20.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tesla

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Tesla by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 243,193,181 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $98,211,134,000 after acquiring an additional 3,571,793 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Tesla by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 61,011,604 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $24,566,217,000 after purchasing an additional 1,655,203 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Tesla in the 4th quarter worth about $14,420,248,000. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 40.1% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 34,661,400 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $13,997,660,000 after buying an additional 9,920,325 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Tesla by 21.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 28,579,615 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $11,541,592,000 after acquiring an additional 5,075,418 shares during the period. 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.