Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Stock Price Down 1.5% on Insider Selling

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) dropped 1.5% during trading on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $256.94 and last traded at $259.56. Approximately 32,297,937 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 60% from the average daily volume of 80,771,719 shares. The stock had previously closed at $263.45.

Specifically, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,672 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $268.73, for a total transaction of $718,046.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 26,950 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,242,273.50. This trade represents a 9.02 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 6,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction on Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $296.02, for a total transaction of $1,776,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 23,084 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,833,325.68. This represents a 20.63 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In other news, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 112,390 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $299.61, for a total value of $33,673,167.90. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 85,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,466,850. This trade represents a 56.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently issued reports on TSLA. Benchmark started coverage on Tesla in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set a “buy” rating and a $475.00 price objective for the company. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $550.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a research report on Friday. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Tesla from $440.00 to $370.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. New Street Research raised Tesla from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $460.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated a “mixed” rating on shares of Tesla in a research note on Saturday, February 8th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $327.37.

Tesla Stock Performance

The business has a 50 day moving average price of $371.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $317.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $831.42 billion, a PE ratio of 127.23, a PEG ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 1.61.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last released its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Tesla

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. True Wealth Design LLC increased its holdings in shares of Tesla by 79.5% in the fourth 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 during 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 during the period. GS Investments Inc. increased its stake 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 valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Navigoe LLC bought a new position in shares of Tesla during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, CoreFirst Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Tesla during the 4th quarter worth $38,000. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by 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.