Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Shares Down 0.6% – Time to Sell?

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares dropped 0.6% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $380.07 and last traded at $392.36. Approximately 25,389,224 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 66% from the average daily volume of 74,563,750 shares. The stock had previously closed at $394.74.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on TSLA. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Tesla from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Glj Research reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $24.86 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Mizuho raised Tesla from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $230.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on Tesla from $195.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Tesla currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $296.60.

Tesla Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $1.26 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 107.40, a PEG ratio of 10.80 and a beta of 2.30. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $376.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $281.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a current ratio of 1.84.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Tesla had a return on equity of 10.24% and a net margin of 13.07%. The business had revenue of $25.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.53 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Tesla, Inc. will post 1.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Tesla

In other news, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.63, for a total transaction of $41,163,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 5,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,222,802. This represents a 94.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 4,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.00, for a total value of $1,000,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 105,032 shares in the company, valued at $26,258,000. The trade was a 3.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 621,886 shares of company stock worth $213,451,751 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Tesla by 168.8% during the second quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC now owns 129 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 81 shares during the period. Transcendent Capital Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Tesla in the third quarter worth $29,000. Clean Yield Group raised its position in Tesla by 60.0% during 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 during the period. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Tesla during the 3rd quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, M&R Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Tesla by 263.2% in the 3rd quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. now owns 138 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Tesla Company Profile

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.