Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Stock Price Down 0.3% on Insider Selling

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report)'s stock price was down 0.3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $267.71 and last traded at $271.18. Approximately 35,247,910 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 56% from the average daily volume of 80,167,531 shares. The stock had previously closed at $272.04.

Specifically, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 6,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $296.02, for a total value of $1,776,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 23,084 shares in the company, valued at $6,833,325.68. This trade represents a 20.63 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 112,390 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $299.61, for a total transaction of $33,673,167.90. Following the transaction, the director now owns 85,000 shares in the company, valued at $25,466,850. The trade was a 56.94 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TSLA has been the topic of a number of research reports. Guggenheim restated a "sell" rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. Roth Mkm upgraded Tesla from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $85.00 to $380.00 in a research report on Monday, December 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Tesla from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of Tesla from $298.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Tesla from $492.00 to $474.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $315.33.

Tesla Trading Up 2.6 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.61 and a current ratio of 2.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $897.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 136.81, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.34. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $374.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $318.13.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. World Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Tesla by 1,248.9% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 199,229 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $52,124,000 after purchasing an additional 184,459 shares during the period. Destination Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Tesla by 12.1% during the third 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. Stephens Consulting LLC grew its stake in shares of Tesla by 126.7% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 1,594 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $644,000 after buying an additional 891 shares in the last quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Tesla by 59.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 117,457 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $30,593,000 after buying an additional 43,685 shares during the period. Finally, MML Investors Services LLC lifted its position in Tesla by 3.3% during the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 309,382 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $80,944,000 after acquiring an additional 9,919 shares in the last quarter. 66.20% of the stock is 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.

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