Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Stock Price Down 3.4% – Here’s Why

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)’s share price traded down 3.4% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $391.20 and last traded at $397.15. 33,351,793 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 58% from the average session volume of 79,524,617 shares. The stock had previously closed at $411.05.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. HSBC reaffirmed a “reduce” rating and set a $124.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Tesla from $195.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Tesla from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Tesla from $195.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Tesla from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $295.69.

Tesla Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $370.78 and its 200 day moving average price is $278.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.27 trillion, a P/E ratio of 108.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 10.80 and a beta of 2.30.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $25.18 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.47 billion. Tesla had a return on equity of 10.24% and a net margin of 13.07%. The company’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.53 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Tesla, Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $251.76, for a total value of $1,007,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 105,032 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,442,856.32. The trade was a 3.67 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 transaction of $15,138,915.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 1,563,220 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $391,164,540.60. This represents a 3.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 621,886 shares of company stock valued at $213,451,751. 20.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TSLA. World Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $52,124,000 after buying an additional 184,459 shares during the period. Destination Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Tesla by 12.1% in the third quarter. Destination Wealth Management now owns 12,597 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $3,296,000 after acquiring an additional 1,359 shares during the period. Vinva Investment Management Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 59.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 117,457 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $30,593,000 after acquiring an additional 43,685 shares during the last quarter. MML Investors Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 9,919 shares during the period. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in Tesla by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 144,482 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $37,801,000 after purchasing an additional 1,741 shares during the last quarter. 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.