Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Stock Price Down 3.7% Following Insider Selling

Shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) dropped 3.7% on Tuesday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $339.19 and last traded at $337.68. Approximately 34,553,744 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 53% from the average daily volume of 73,030,281 shares. The stock had previously closed at $350.73.

Specifically, Director Kimbal Musk sold 75,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $367.87, for a total transaction of $27,590,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,463,220 shares in the company, valued at $538,274,741.40. This trade represents a 4.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $383.11, for a total value of $2,681,770.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 108,965 shares of the company's stock, valued at $41,745,581.15. This trade represents a 6.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In related news, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 112,390 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $384.04, for a total transaction of $43,162,255.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 85,000 shares in the company, valued at $32,643,400. This trade represents a 56.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America cut Tesla from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their target price for the company from $400.00 to $490.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. Phillip Securities cut Tesla from a "moderate sell" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 13th. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on Tesla from $298.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Wedbush lifted their price objective on Tesla from $515.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on Tesla from $226.00 to $259.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Tesla currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $326.50.

Tesla Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 1.61. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $406.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $306.79. The firm has a market cap of $1.15 trillion, a PE ratio of 174.56, a PEG ratio of 6.22 and a beta of 2.34.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tesla

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired a new position in Tesla during the third quarter worth $29,000. Horrell Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Tesla by 75.6% in the fourth quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Tesla in the third quarter valued at $35,000. GS Investments Inc. grew its holdings in Tesla by 193.3% in the fourth quarter. GS Investments Inc. now owns 88 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Tesla in the fourth quarter valued at $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.20% of the company's stock.

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.