Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) Trading Down 3.5% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) dropped 3.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $435.09 and last traded at $445.91. Approximately 102,764,959 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 2% from the average daily volume of 101,069,930 shares. The stock had previously closed at $462.07.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

TSLA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Tesla from $341.00 to $471.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 29th. Melius Research set a $520.00 price target on Tesla and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 13th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. Industrial Alliance Securities set a $300.00 target price on Tesla in a report on Monday, October 13th. Finally, Roth Capital set a $505.00 price target on shares of Tesla and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-one have given a Buy rating, thirteen have given a Hold rating and eleven have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $391.08.

Tesla Stock Down 3.7%

The company has a market capitalization of $1.43 trillion, a PE ratio of 286.35, a P/E/G ratio of 16.84 and a beta of 2.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 2.07. The company’s 50-day moving average is $420.97 and its 200 day moving average is $354.73.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.48 by $0.02. Tesla had a net margin of 5.51% and a return on equity of 6.61%. The firm had revenue of $28.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $24.98 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.72 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Tesla, Inc. will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 2,606 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $352.38, for a total value of $918,302.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 9,856 shares in the company, valued at $3,473,057.28. The trade was a 20.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director James R. Murdoch sold 60,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $422.68, for a total value of $25,360,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 637,031 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $269,260,263.08. The trade was a 8.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 202,606 shares of company stock valued at $75,588,902. Corporate insiders own 19.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Compass Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Tesla in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $6,726,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. increased its position in Tesla by 0.9% during the third quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,439,226 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $637,853,000 after acquiring an additional 12,395 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Alliance LLC lifted its holdings in Tesla by 1.0% in the third quarter. Wealth Alliance LLC now owns 8,549 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $3,802,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares during the period. Hemenway Trust Co LLC purchased a new position in Tesla in the third quarter worth about $233,000. Finally, VeraBank N.A. bought a new stake in shares of Tesla during the 3rd quarter valued at about $545,000. 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.