Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Stock Price Down 3.1% - What's Next?

Shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) dropped 3.1% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $327.33 and last traded at $333.61. Approximately 44,414,669 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 55% from the average daily volume of 98,021,457 shares. The stock had previously closed at $344.27.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TSLA has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating and issued a $350.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $430.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a research note on Tuesday, April 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on Tesla from $420.00 to $345.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their target price on Tesla from $404.00 to $303.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, BNP Paribas set a $137.00 target price on Tesla and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $293.97.

Tesla Trading Down 14.3%

The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $291.12 and a 200 day moving average of $334.34. The company has a market cap of $916.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 139.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.47.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.26). Tesla had a net margin of 7.26% and a return on equity of 10.31%. The business had revenue of $19.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.93 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.45 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Tesla

In related news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 4,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total transaction of $1,000,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 26,950 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,737,500. This represents a 12.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director James R. Murdoch sold 54,776 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.79, for a total value of $13,189,513.04. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 477,011 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $114,859,478.69. This trade represents a 10.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 870,721 shares of company stock worth $286,248,728 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 20.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Tesla

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Tesla by 57.0% during the first quarter. Osterweis Capital Management Inc. now owns 785 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $203,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares during the last quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Tesla by 147.3% during the first quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 1,024 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $265,000 after acquiring an additional 610 shares during the last quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Tesla by 58.8% during the first quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,178 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $824,000 after acquiring an additional 1,177 shares during the last quarter. Integrity Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Tesla by 37.0% during the first quarter. Integrity Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 2,802 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $726,000 after acquiring an additional 757 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Modern Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Tesla by 58.6% during the first quarter. Modern Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,043 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $3,898,000 after acquiring an additional 5,557 shares during the last quarter. 66.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.