Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Trading Down 0.7% – Should You Sell?

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s stock price was down 0.7% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $410.35 and last traded at $412.36. Approximately 20,793,147 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 73% from the average daily volume of 76,039,648 shares. The stock had previously closed at $415.11.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on TSLA. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $120.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Mizuho upgraded Tesla from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $230.00 to $515.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Tesla from $249.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on shares of Tesla from $280.00 to $480.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Roth Mkm raised shares of Tesla from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $380.00 in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $313.84.

Tesla Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $1.31 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 111.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.42 and a beta of 2.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company’s 50-day moving average is $398.82 and its 200-day moving average is $294.03.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.14. The business had revenue of $25.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.47 billion. Tesla had a return on equity of 10.24% and a net margin of 13.07%. Tesla’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.53 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 4,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.76, for a total transaction of $1,007,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 105,032 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,442,856.32. This trade represents a 3.67 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Kimbal Musk sold 60,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.23, for a total value of $15,138,915.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 1,563,220 shares in the company, valued at approximately $391,164,540.60. This represents a 3.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 617,886 shares of company stock worth $212,451,751. Corporate insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of TSLA. Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new position in Tesla in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Clean Yield Group increased its stake in shares of Tesla by 60.0% in the 3rd quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 128 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the period. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Tesla during the third quarter worth $35,000. M&R Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Tesla by 263.2% during the third quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. now owns 138 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new position in Tesla in the second quarter valued at about $48,000. 66.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.