Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Trading Down 5.1% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Tesla's share price dropped 5.1% during mid-day trading, reaching a low of $411.45 before closing at $413.49.
• Wall Street analysts have a mixed outlook, with two giving a Strong Buy rating while others issued Hold and Sell ratings, leading to an average target price of $354.67.
• Tesla reported earnings of $0.40 per share in its last quarterly update, falling short of the $0.43 expected by analysts and showing an 11.8% decline in quarterly revenue year-over-year.

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report)'s share price fell 5.1% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $411.45 and last traded at $413.49. 107,093,377 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 4% from the average session volume of 102,781,781 shares. The stock had previously closed at $435.54.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on TSLA. China Renaissance restated a "hold" rating and issued a $349.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a report on Friday, July 25th. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating and issued a $475.00 price target (up from $350.00) on shares of Tesla in a report on Thursday, June 26th. UBS Group set a $247.00 price objective on Tesla in a report on Monday. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $355.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a report on Friday, October 3rd. Finally, Wedbush increased their price objective on Tesla from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, September 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nineteen have given a Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Hold rating and eight have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $354.67.

Tesla Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $1.37 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 239.01, a PEG ratio of 16.04 and a beta of 2.08. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $373.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $326.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 2.04 and a quick ratio of 1.55.

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

Insider Transactions at Tesla

In related news, Director James R. Murdoch sold 120,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $350.29, for a total transaction of $42,034,800.00. Following the sale, the director owned 697,031 shares in the company, valued at $244,162,988.99. The trade was a 14.69% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Xiaotong Zhu sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president owned 47,600 shares in the company, valued at $17,314,500. This represents a 29.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 202,606 shares of company stock valued at $75,588,902. Corporate insiders own 19.90% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tesla

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of TSLA. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Tesla by 11.8% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 87,929 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $35,509,000 after buying an additional 9,293 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Tesla by 21.2% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,317 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $2,147,000 after buying an additional 931 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Tesla by 52.2% in the fourth quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 10,368 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $4,187,000 after buying an additional 3,558 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Tesla by 6.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 37,862 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $9,812,000 after buying an additional 2,153 shares during the period. Finally, Ulland Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Tesla by 30.8% during the 1st quarter. Ulland Investment Advisors LLC now owns 170 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $44,000 after purchasing an additional 40 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.

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