Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Shares Down 1.3% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Tesla's share price declined by 1.3% to $344.99, with a trading volume significantly lower than the average, at just 24.8 million shares.
• Analysts have shown mixed sentiment, with modifications to price targets: Mizuho lowered theirs to $375, while Wedbush maintained an "outperform" rating with a target of $500.
• The company reported a net income decline with earnings per share of $0.40 for the last quarter, missing analysts' expectations and reflecting an 11.8% year-over-year revenue drop to $22.50 billion.

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report)'s share price traded down 1.3% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $343.55 and last traded at $344.99. 24,845,118 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 103,847,805 shares. The stock had previously closed at $349.60.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Tesla from $390.00 to $375.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on shares of Tesla from $303.00 to $333.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 24th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "sell" rating and issued a $175.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $500.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and issued a $320.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a report on Monday, June 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Hold rating and nine have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Tesla presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $303.31.

Tesla Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.11 trillion, a P/E ratio of 198.66, a PEG ratio of 12.23 and a beta of 2.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 2.04. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $322.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $303.14.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.03). Tesla had a net margin of 6.54% and a return on equity of 7.98%. The business had revenue of $22.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.18 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Tesla news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $341.02, for a total transaction of $2,046,120.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 1,950 shares in the company, valued at $664,989. This trade represents a 75.47% 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, SVP Xiaotong Zhu sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $323.81, for a total value of $4,857,150.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 67,600 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,889,556. This represents a 18.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 30,564 shares of company stock worth $9,757,390. Corporate insiders own 20.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tesla

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of TSLA. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 86.3% in the 1st quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 95 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. First PREMIER Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 79.2% in the 1st quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 95 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Chapman Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Tesla during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Newton One Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 250.0% during the 1st quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 105 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI acquired a new stake in shares of Tesla during the 1st quarter valued at $27,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.

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