Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Shares Down 2.4% – Should You Sell?

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares were down 2.4% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $348.00 and last traded at $352.03. Approximately 20,097,038 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 73% from the average daily volume of 74,627,320 shares. The stock had previously closed at $360.56.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

TSLA has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on shares of Tesla from $254.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Roth Capital upgraded shares of Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Wedbush increased their price target on shares of Tesla from $515.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Glj Research reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $24.86 price target on shares of Tesla in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on shares of Tesla from $298.00 to $400.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Tesla has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $326.50.

Tesla Stock Performance

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $403.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $311.13. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm has a market cap of $1.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 172.93, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.34.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.08). Tesla had a net margin of 7.26% and a return on equity of 10.31%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Kimbal Musk sold 75,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $367.87, for a total value of $27,590,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,463,220 shares in the company, valued at approximately $538,274,741.40. This trade represents a 4.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $354.43, for a total value of $2,481,010.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 105,032 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,226,491.76. The trade was a 6.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 523,386 shares of company stock worth $195,995,200 over the last three months. 20.70% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tesla

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of TSLA. Swedbank AB boosted its position in Tesla by 2.8% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,098,717 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $287,457,000 after purchasing an additional 29,669 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank boosted its position in Tesla by 65.2% in the third quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 7,655 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $2,003,000 after purchasing an additional 3,020 shares during the last quarter. Leo Wealth LLC boosted its position in Tesla by 5.7% in the third quarter. Leo Wealth LLC now owns 4,691 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $1,227,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in Tesla by 7.6% in the third quarter. Waldron Private Wealth LLC now owns 16,380 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $4,286,000 after purchasing an additional 1,152 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RBA Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Tesla by 3.3% in the third quarter. RBA Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,271 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $856,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the last quarter. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.