Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Shares Down 2.1% Following Insider Selling

Key Points

• Tesla shares fell 2.1% after insider selling, with Director James R. Murdoch selling 60,000 shares for over $25 million.
• Despite recent declines, Wall Street analysts maintain various price targets, with Canaccord Genuity raising their target for Tesla from $303 to $333.
• Hedge funds have significantly increased their stakes in Tesla, with one fund growing its position by over 27,000% in the first quarter.

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) shares fell 2.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $416.56 and last traded at $416.85. 89,352,051 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 14% from the average session volume of 103,456,492 shares. The stock had previously closed at $425.86.

Specifically, Director James R. Murdoch sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $422.68, for a total transaction of $25,360,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 637,031 shares in the company, valued at $269,260,263.08. This represents a 8.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Xiaotong Zhu sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $363.75, for a total value of $7,275,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 47,600 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,314,500. This trade represents a 29.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on TSLA shares. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Thursday, July 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Tesla from $300.00 to $395.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday. William Blair restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Robert W. Baird upgraded shares of Tesla from a "neutral" rating to an "outperform" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $320.00 to $548.00 in a research report on Friday. Finally, Daiwa Capital Markets reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Sunday, July 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have given a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and nine have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Tesla has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $317.70.

Tesla Stock Up 2.2%

The stock's 50-day moving average price is $340.68 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $308.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.42 trillion, a PE ratio of 246.28, a P/E/G ratio of 14.86 and a beta of 2.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 2.04.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.43 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $22.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $23.18 billion. Tesla had a net margin of 6.54% and a return on equity of 7.98%. Tesla's revenue was down 11.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.52 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Tesla by 86.3% during the first quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 95 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. First PREMIER Bank raised its holdings in shares of Tesla by 79.2% in the first quarter. First PREMIER Bank now owns 95 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Chapman Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Tesla in the second quarter valued at about $26,000. Newton One Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Tesla by 250.0% in the first quarter. Newton One Investments LLC now owns 105 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arcadia Investment Management Corp MI bought a new stake in shares of Tesla in the first quarter valued at about $27,000. 66.20% of the stock is 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.