Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Shares Down 3.5% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Tesla shares fell 3.5% during trading, closing at $317.67, a significant drop from a previous close of $329.31, with trading volume down 72% from the average.
• Recent analyst ratings show mixed sentiments, with a range of price targets from $175.00 to $341.00 and a consensus rating of "Hold".
• The company's quarterly earnings report revealed a miss on earnings per share at $0.40, below the expected $0.43, alongside an 11.8% decline in year-over-year revenue.

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) dropped 3.5% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $314.60 and last traded at $317.67. Approximately 28,985,575 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 72% from the average daily volume of 104,937,609 shares. The stock had previously closed at $329.31.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TSLA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Tesla from $305.00 to $341.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Truist Financial set a $280.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Glj Research reissued a "sell" rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a "sell" rating and set a $175.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating, fifteen have given a Hold rating and nine have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Tesla has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $303.31.

Tesla Stock Down 2.3%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 2.04 and a quick ratio of 1.55. The company has a market cap of $1.04 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 185.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.65 and a beta of 2.33. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $321.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $304.26.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $22.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.18 billion. Tesla had a net margin of 6.54% and a return on equity of 7.98%. Tesla's revenue for the quarter was down 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Tesla

In other news, Director Kimbal Musk sold 91,588 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $357.39, for a total transaction of $32,732,635.32. Following the sale, the director owned 1,463,220 shares in the company, valued at $522,940,195.80. This represents a 5.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $600,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 5,924 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,777,200. The trade was a 25.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 599,724 shares of company stock worth $213,126,501 in the last 90 days. 20.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Tesla

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. North Dallas Bank & Trust Co. purchased a new position in shares of Tesla in the second quarter valued at $1,269,000. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC lifted its stake in Tesla by 250.2% during the second quarter. Coppell Advisory Solutions LLC now owns 30,587 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $9,899,000 after purchasing an additional 21,853 shares during the last quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in Tesla by 20.7% during the second quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 31,426 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $9,983,000 after purchasing an additional 5,389 shares during the last quarter. MRP Capital Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Tesla by 93.8% in the second quarter. MRP Capital Investments LLC now owns 5,518 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $1,753,000 after buying an additional 2,670 shares during the period. Finally, Anchor Investment Management LLC raised its position in Tesla by 12.6% during the 2nd quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 9,812 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $3,117,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the last quarter. 66.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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