Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Stock Price Down 0.9% - Time to Sell?

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded down 0.9% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $461.11 and last traded at $475.45. 32,665,536 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 65% from the average session volume of 94,672,836 shares. The stock had previously closed at $479.86.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Phillip Securities downgraded Tesla from a "moderate sell" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Roth Capital upgraded shares of Tesla from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on shares of Tesla from $254.00 to $278.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Tesla from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 29th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "underperform" rating and set a $120.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $272.06.

Tesla Trading Down 8.3 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.41 trillion, a PE ratio of 120.58, a P/E/G ratio of 10.80 and a beta of 2.36. The company's 50 day moving average price is $310.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $251.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.37.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 last year, the company posted $0.53 EPS. The business's revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Tesla, Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Tesla

In other news, Director Kimbal Musk sold 60,500 shares of the company'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 transaction, the director now owns 1,563,220 shares of the company's stock, valued at $391,164,540.60. This represents a 3.73 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $2,000,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 105,032 shares of the company's stock, valued at $26,258,000. The trade was a 7.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 522,886 shares of company stock worth $171,393,831 in the last three months. 20.70% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Tesla

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in Tesla in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Clean Yield Group grew its stake in shares of Tesla by 60.0% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Tesla by 168.8% in the 2nd quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 129 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 81 shares during the period. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. acquired a new position in Tesla during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Tesla during the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. 66.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.