Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Trading Down 3.9% Following Insider Selling

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) shares dropped 3.9% on Thursday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $264.40 and last traded at $268.19. Approximately 33,677,910 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 58% from the average daily volume of 80,441,977 shares. The stock had previously closed at $279.10.

Specifically, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,672 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.73, for a total transaction of $718,046.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 26,950 shares in the company, valued at $7,242,273.50. The trade was a 9.02 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 6,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.02, for a total value of $1,776,120.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 23,084 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,833,325.68. This represents a 20.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In other Tesla news, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 112,390 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $299.61, for a total transaction of $33,673,167.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 85,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,466,850. The trade was a 56.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on TSLA. New Street Research raised Tesla from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $460.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a "cautious" rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Tesla from $440.00 to $370.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Tesla from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued a "top pick" rating and issued a $430.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Tesla has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $327.37.

Tesla Stock Down 0.3 %

The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $367.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $318.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $844.88 billion, a PE ratio of 128.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.08). Tesla had a net margin of 7.26% and a return on equity of 10.31%. Equities research analysts forecast that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tesla

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in TSLA. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its holdings in Tesla by 79.5% in the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 70 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 31 shares during the last quarter. Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired a new position in Tesla in the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Horrell Capital Management Inc. lifted 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 acquiring an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Tesla in the third quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, GS Investments Inc. lifted its stake in Tesla by 193.3% during the fourth quarter. GS Investments Inc. now owns 88 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. 66.20% of the stock is currently 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.