Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 81,330,000 shares, an increase of 21.2% from the February 28th total of 67,130,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 93,410,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.9 days. Approximately 3.2% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Truist Financial increased their price target on Tesla from $351.00 to $373.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Tesla from $259.00 to $225.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 10th. Cowen upgraded shares of Tesla from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. Guggenheim cut their target price on Tesla from $175.00 to $170.00 and set a “sell” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $404.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $317.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $413.56, for a total value of $2,894,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 108,965 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,063,565.40. This trade represents a 6.04 % 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 firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $411.63, for a total transaction of $41,163,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 5,400 shares in the company, valued at $2,222,802. This trade represents a 94.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 477,228 shares of company stock worth $166,849,043. Corporate 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. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates raised its holdings in Tesla by 24.5% in the first quarter. Global Wealth Strategies & Associates now owns 1,407 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $365,000 after purchasing an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Hobart Private Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Tesla during the first quarter valued at approximately $338,000. Milestone Asset Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Tesla in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,186,000. Avant Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Tesla in the 4th quarter worth approximately $519,000. Finally, Fire Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Tesla during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,424,000. 66.20% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Tesla Trading Up 4.5 %

Shares of TSLA traded up $12.20 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $280.66. The company had a trading volume of 93,701,182 shares, compared to its average volume of 93,683,581. The company has a quick ratio of 1.61, a current ratio of 2.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $314.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $323.48. The firm has a market cap of $902.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 136.27, a P/E/G ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50. 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 data on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 earnings per share (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 10.31%. On average, research analysts predict that Tesla will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

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.