Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Shares Gap Down on Insider Selling

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped down before the market opened on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock had previously closed at $332.05, but opened at $322.49. Tesla shares last traded at $315.31, with a volume of 39,681,566 shares changing hands.

Specifically, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 1,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total transaction of $350,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 1,950 shares of the company's stock, valued at $682,500. The trade was a 33.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 1,950 shares in the company, valued at $664,989. The trade was a 75.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen raised shares of Tesla from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $180.00 to $388.00 in a research note on Friday, March 7th. BNP Paribas set a $137.00 target price on shares of Tesla and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Argus set a $410.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Roth Mkm decreased their target price on shares of Tesla from $450.00 to $395.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Tesla presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $293.97.

Tesla Price Performance

The firm's 50-day moving average is $291.63 and its 200-day moving average is $333.97. 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 market capitalization 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 quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.26). The firm had revenue of $19.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $22.93 billion. Tesla had a return on equity of 10.31% and a net margin of 7.26%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.45 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Tesla

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of TSLA. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Tesla in the fourth quarter worth $14,420,248,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Tesla by 322.1% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 26,590,525 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $6,891,201,000 after purchasing an additional 20,291,139 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Tesla in the first quarter worth $3,247,619,000. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Tesla by 40.1% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 34,661,400 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $13,997,660,000 after purchasing an additional 9,920,325 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Tesla by 27,378.6% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 9,812,316 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $2,542,960,000 after acquiring an additional 9,776,607 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.