Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Stock Price Down 3.8% Following Insider Selling

Shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) traded down 3.8% on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $312.36 and last traded at $319.40. 53,138,531 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 46% from the average session volume of 98,214,706 shares. The stock had previously closed at $332.05.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on TSLA. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Tesla from $295.00 to $285.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. UBS Group dropped their price target on shares of Tesla from $225.00 to $190.00 and set a "sell" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Argus set a $410.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. BNP Paribas set a $137.00 price objective on Tesla and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, HSBC cut their price objective on Tesla from $165.00 to $130.00 and set a "reduce" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $294.27.

Tesla Trading Up 3.7%

The firm has a market cap of $950.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 144.68, a PEG ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.47. The company has a 50 day moving average of $292.17 and a 200 day moving average of $333.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 2.02.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $19.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $22.93 billion. Tesla had a return on equity of 10.31% and a net margin of 7.26%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.45 EPS. Analysts predict that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tesla

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TSLA. Vista Finance LLC boosted its position in shares of Tesla by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vista Finance LLC now owns 3,510 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $1,417,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Jmac Enterprises LLC boosted its position in shares of Tesla by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Jmac Enterprises LLC now owns 3,884 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $1,569,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares in the last quarter. TFB Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Tesla by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. TFB Advisors LLC now owns 5,213 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $2,105,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in Tesla by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,969 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $795,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC boosted its holdings in Tesla by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC now owns 2,166 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $875,000 after acquiring an additional 27 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.