Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Stock Price Down 2.5% – Time to Sell?

Shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) were down 2.5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $380.02 and last traded at $382.40. Approximately 21,237,301 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average daily volume of 73,099,727 shares. The stock had previously closed at $392.21.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America lowered shares of Tesla from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $400.00 to $490.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. New Street Research upgraded 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Tesla from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Tesla in a research note on Tuesday, October 8th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $175.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Tesla currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $318.31.

Tesla Trading Down 3.4 %

The business has a fifty day moving average price of $406.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $301.73. 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 company has a market cap of $1.22 trillion, a P/E ratio of 185.76, a PEG ratio of 6.79 and a beta of 2.34.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last posted 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 return on equity of 10.31% and a net margin of 7.26%. On average, analysts forecast that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Tesla

In other Tesla news, 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 sale, the director now directly owns 85,000 shares in the company, valued at $26,727,400. This represents a 56.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.63, for a total transaction of $41,163,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 5,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,222,802. The trade was a 94.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 553,386 shares of company stock valued at $196,305,796 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. World Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Tesla by 1,248.9% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 199,229 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $52,124,000 after buying an additional 184,459 shares during the last quarter. Destination Wealth Management increased its holdings in Tesla by 12.1% in the 3rd quarter. Destination Wealth Management now owns 12,597 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $3,296,000 after purchasing an additional 1,359 shares in the last quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd raised its position in Tesla by 59.2% in the third quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 117,457 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $30,593,000 after purchasing an additional 43,685 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Tesla by 3.3% during the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 309,382 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $80,944,000 after purchasing an additional 9,919 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in Tesla by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 144,482 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $37,801,000 after buying an additional 1,741 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

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.