Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Shares Gap Down - Should You Sell?

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) shares gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $317.66, but opened at $298.46. Tesla shares last traded at $304.61, with a volume of 41,842,968 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on TSLA. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Tesla from $325.00 to $275.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Raymond James Financial cut shares of Tesla to an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 22nd. Glj Research reaffirmed a "sell" rating and issued a $19.05 target price (down previously from $24.86) on shares of Tesla in a report on Monday, April 21st. Argus reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Tesla from $190.00 to $215.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $298.37.

Tesla Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $968.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 165.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 12.06 and a beta of 2.40. The company has a quick ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 2.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $316.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $328.38.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.27 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.53 by ($0.26). Tesla had a return on equity of 9.02% and a net margin of 6.66%. The company had revenue of $19.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.93 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.45 EPS. On average, research 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 2,564 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $285.71, for a total transaction of $732,560.44. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 5,924 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,692,546.04. This trade represents a 30.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ira Matthew Ehrenpreis sold 477,572 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $357.30, for a total value of $170,636,475.60. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 855,394 shares in the company, valued at $305,632,276.20. The trade was a 35.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 833,509 shares of company stock worth $278,648,925 over the last 90 days. 20.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Tesla by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 246,887,705 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $63,983,418,000 after acquiring an additional 3,694,524 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Tesla by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 61,011,604 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $24,566,217,000 after acquiring an additional 1,655,203 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Tesla in the 4th quarter worth about $14,420,248,000. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Tesla by 40.1% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 34,661,400 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $13,997,660,000 after acquiring an additional 9,920,325 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Tesla by 21.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 28,579,615 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $11,541,592,000 after acquiring an additional 5,075,418 shares in the last quarter. 66.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.