Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Trading Down 3.7% – Should You Sell?

Shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) were down 3.7% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $426.50 and last traded at $437.23. 33,652,819 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 65% from the average daily volume of 94,838,969 shares. The stock had previously closed at $454.13.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TSLA has been the subject of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of Tesla from $295.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Tesla in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Barclays lifted their price target on Tesla from $220.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $120.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Tuesday, October 8th. Nine equities 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $272.06.

Tesla Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $1.39 trillion, a PE ratio of 118.26, a P/E/G ratio of 10.80 and a beta of 2.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The business’s fifty day moving average is $345.67 and its 200-day moving average is $266.03.

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, beating 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 firm had revenue of $25.18 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.53 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Tesla, Inc. will post 1.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Tesla

In related news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,606 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $374.21, for a total value of $975,191.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 108,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,775,792.65. This represents a 2.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 112,390 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $314.44, for a total value of $35,339,911.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 85,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,727,400. The trade was a 56.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 514,886 shares of company stock valued at $169,393,831 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of TSLA. Transcendent Capital Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Tesla in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Clean Yield Group increased its stake in Tesla by 60.0% in the 3rd quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 128 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Abich Financial Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Tesla by 168.8% during the 2nd 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 last quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Tesla in the second quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Tesla during the third quarter valued at $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.