Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Stock Price Down 2% on Insider Selling

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares dropped 2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock traded as low as $335.90 and last traded at $338.94. Approximately 23,417,082 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average daily volume of 95,808,750 shares. The stock had previously closed at $346.00.

Specifically, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 112,390 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.44, for a total transaction of $35,339,911.60. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 85,000 shares in the company, valued at $26,727,400. This represents a 56.94 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on TSLA shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Tesla from $230.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Bank of America increased their target price on Tesla from $265.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Tesla from $249.00 to $313.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. KGI Securities raised Tesla from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $276.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Phillip Securities lowered shares of Tesla from a “moderate sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 13th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seventeen have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $230.18.

Tesla Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $261.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $224.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.09 trillion, a PE ratio of 93.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 11.24 and a beta of 2.29.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.14. Tesla had a net margin of 13.07% and a return on equity of 10.24%. The business had revenue of $25.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.53 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Tesla, Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Tesla

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in TSLA. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Tesla by 35,611.2% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 11,054,391 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $2,892,160,000 after purchasing an additional 11,023,436 shares in the last quarter. Clean Energy Transition LLP lifted its stake in Tesla by 347.7% in the 2nd quarter. Clean Energy Transition LLP now owns 4,818,600 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $953,505,000 after buying an additional 6,764,300 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Tesla by 21,816.0% in the 2nd quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 5,902,416 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $1,167,970,000 after buying an additional 5,875,484 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of Tesla by 13.7% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 24,377,822 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $6,377,970,000 after acquiring an additional 2,946,763 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Tesla by 52.0% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 7,344,526 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $1,921,548,000 after acquiring an additional 2,511,488 shares in the last quarter. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.