Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Trading Down 1% on Insider Selling

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares dropped 1% on Thursday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $440.33 and last traded at $446.8290. Approximately 54,971,605 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 44% from the average daily volume of 98,672,469 shares. The stock had previously closed at $451.45.

Specifically, Director Kimbal Musk sold 56,820 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $450.66, for a total transaction of $25,606,501.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,391,615 shares in the company, valued at $627,145,215.90. This represents a 3.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,637 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $443.93, for a total value of $1,170,643.41. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,757 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,107,145.01. This represents a 16.09% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on TSLA. Roth Capital set a $505.00 price objective on shares of Tesla and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on shares of Tesla from $490.00 to $482.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 23rd. Baird R W raised Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 19th. New Street Research upped their price target on Tesla from $465.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of Tesla from $425.00 to $400.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating, fourteen have given a Hold rating and nine have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $399.33.

Tesla Stock Performance

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $435.52 and its 200-day simple moving average is $376.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 2.07. The company has a market capitalization of $1.53 trillion, a PE ratio of 305.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 15.09 and a beta of 1.87.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.02. Tesla had a net margin of 5.51% and a return on equity of 6.61%. The company had revenue of $28.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $24.98 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.72 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Turning Point Benefit Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Tesla in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Manning & Napier Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Tesla during the third quarter valued at $29,000. Texas Capital Bancshares Inc TX acquired a new stake in shares of Tesla in the 3rd quarter valued at $31,000. Westend Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Tesla in the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Chapman Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Tesla during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. 66.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.