Short Interest in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) Decreases By 16.6%

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 67,380,000 shares, a decrease of 16.6% from the December 31st total of 80,770,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 92,160,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 0.7 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on TSLA shares. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $440.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a report on Thursday. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Tesla from $270.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Tesla in a research report on Tuesday, October 8th. Mizuho reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $515.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price on Tesla from $298.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have issued a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Tesla presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $318.31.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 4,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $350.00, for a total value of $1,400,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 105,032 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $36,761,200. This trade represents a 3.67 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.02, for a total transaction of $34,602,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,868,508. The trade was a 94.88 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 553,386 shares of company stock worth $196,305,796. Company insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Tesla in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Clean Yield Group raised its stake 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 last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Tesla in the third quarter worth $35,000. M&R Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Tesla by 263.2% during the third quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc. now owns 138 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA bought a new position in Tesla in the 4th quarter worth about $46,000. 66.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Tesla Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of TSLA stock traded up $4.32 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $404.60. The stock had a trading volume of 83,239,854 shares, compared to its average volume of 75,513,844. The company has a current ratio of 1.84, a quick ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $403.18 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $297.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.30 trillion, a PE ratio of 198.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 8.08 and a beta of 2.30. Tesla has a 52-week low of $138.80 and a 52-week high of $488.54.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by ($0.08). Tesla had a net margin of 7.26% and a return on equity of 10.54%. Equities analysts expect that Tesla will post 2.82 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.