Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Shares Down 3.9% - Time to Sell?

Shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) were down 3.9% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $274.40 and last traded at $276.03. Approximately 33,658,572 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 65% from the average daily volume of 95,633,268 shares. The stock had previously closed at $287.21.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on TSLA. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Tesla from $420.00 to $345.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price objective on Tesla from $425.00 to $355.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Truist Financial set a $280.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a research report on Tuesday, April 22nd. BNP Paribas set a $137.00 price target on shares of Tesla and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Tesla from $325.00 to $275.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Tesla presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $287.46.

Tesla Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $960.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 146.10, a PEG ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.43. The company has a current ratio of 2.02, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $258.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $326.09.

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 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.53 by ($0.26). Tesla had a return on equity of 10.31% and a net margin of 7.26%. The firm had revenue of $19.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.93 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.45 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Tesla news, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 112,395 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $274.12, for a total value of $30,809,717.40. Following the transaction, the director now owns 85,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,300,200. This represents a 56.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 6,000 shares of the business's 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 23,084 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,833,325.68. The trade was a 20.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 408,623 shares of company stock valued at $114,400,501. Company insiders own 20.70% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in Tesla by 79.5% during the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 70 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares in the last quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Tesla by 75.6% during the fourth quarter. Horrell Capital Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. GS Investments Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Navigoe LLC bought a new stake in Tesla in the 4th quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Tesla in the 4th quarter worth $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.20% of the company's stock.

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.