Insider Selling: Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) Director Sells 54,776 Shares of Stock

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) Director James R. Murdoch sold 54,776 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.79, for a total value of $13,189,513.04. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 477,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $114,859,478.69. This trade represents a 10.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Tesla Stock Performance

Shares of TSLA opened at $248.09 on Thursday. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $357.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $319.03. Tesla, Inc. has a 52 week low of $138.80 and a 52 week high of $488.54. The stock has a market cap of $797.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 121.61, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.08). Tesla had a return on equity of 10.31% and a net margin of 7.26%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on TSLA. Truist Financial increased their price target on Tesla from $351.00 to $373.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on Tesla from $295.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Tesla from $135.00 to $120.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler raised their target price on Tesla from $315.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on Tesla from $195.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $325.81.

Institutional Trading of Tesla

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Swedbank AB lifted its position in Tesla by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 1,098,717 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $287,457,000 after acquiring an additional 29,669 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Tesla by 5.6% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,650,393 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $955,052,000 after acquiring an additional 194,796 shares in the last quarter. United Bank bought a new position in Tesla in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $287,000. Meritage Portfolio Management bought a new position in Tesla in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $221,000. Finally, Patten & Patten Inc. TN lifted its position in Tesla by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Patten & Patten Inc. TN now owns 3,753 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $982,000 after acquiring an additional 156 shares in the last quarter. 66.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.