Tesla sinks to almost two-year low on Elon Musk stock sales, Twitter distraction

Tesla shares dropped 6% connected Wednesday to their lowest since November 2020 aft CEO Elon Musk disclosed the merchantability of adjacent to $4 cardinal worthy of stock successful the electrical car company.

The banal is down 49% year-to-date. As of Tuesday's close, it was the 465th worst performer this twelvemonth successful the S&P 500.

Musk seemingly sold the latest batch of Tesla shares astatine slightest successful portion to concern his $44 cardinal acquisition of Twitter, which closed successful precocious October. His income were revealed done fiscal filings with the SEC connected Tuesday night, published arsenic votes from the U.S. mid-term elections were being tallied.

According to an investigation by Ben Silverman, Director of Research for Verity, Musk's latest Tesla banal income were precise well-timed. Silverman tracks insider income by institution executives.

Tesla closed astatine $215.3 connected Nov. 3, the time earlier his archetypal merchantability successful this batch, and closed astatine $191.30 connected Nov. 8, the time of his astir caller disclosed sale. Shares declined astir 11% implicit those 3 trading days. The banal dropped beneath $180 arsenic of mid-day Wednesday.

Verity's InsiderScore notes that Musk had 267.6 cardinal shares of Tesla pledged arsenic collateral for idiosyncratic indebtedness arsenic of Mar. 31. He holds astir 19.7% of Tesla's outstanding shares pursuing the latest merchantability of astir 19.5 cardinal shares, a diminution from astir 22.4% ownership astatine the extremity of 2020.

Musk inactive owns 445.6 cardinal Tesla shares and holds exercisable options for 177.3 cardinal much Tesla shares astatine $23.34, arsenic good arsenic immoderate smaller tranches of options.

Musk sold $8.5 cardinal worthy of Tesla shares astatine $294.36 per stock successful April and $6.9 cardinal worthy of his banal astatine $289.79 per share. Late past year, Musk sold $6.6 cardinal worthy of Tesla shares astatine $357.23.

"Regardless of his reasoning for selling TSLA shares close now, it's hard to disregard the adept timing of his erstwhile sales," InsiderScore wrote. "In different words, Musk is nary dummy, truthful pursuing his pb whitethorn not beryllium a atrocious idea."

Musk has pulled dozens of Tesla employees, mostly Autopilot engineers, to Twitter to assistance him with codification reappraisal and different work. He hasn't made wide however helium oregon these employees volition disagreement their schedules and work astatine the companies.

WATCH: Musk sells much Twitter shares