Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

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

Tesla Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of TSLA stock traded up $4.32 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $404.60. 83,239,854 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 75,513,844. Tesla has a 52-week low of $138.80 and a 52-week high of $488.54. The stock has a market cap of $1.30 trillion, a P/E ratio of 198.33, a P/E/G ratio of 8.08 and a beta of 2.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 1.84 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $403.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $297.99.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 10.54% and a net margin of 7.26%. Equities analysts predict that Tesla will post 2.82 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Tesla from $226.00 to $259.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Thursday. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Tesla from $195.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Tesla from $351.00 to $373.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday. KGI Securities raised Tesla from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $276.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Tesla from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fourteen have given a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $318.31.

Insider Transactions at Tesla

In related news, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $346.02, for a total value of $34,602,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 5,400 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,868,508. This trade represents a 94.88 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 7,000 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $413.56, for a total transaction of $2,894,920.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 108,965 shares in the company, valued at $45,063,565.40. This represents a 6.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 553,386 shares of company stock worth $196,305,796 over the last three months. 20.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in TSLA. Transcendent Capital Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Tesla in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Clean Yield Group increased its stake in Tesla by 60.0% during the 3rd quarter. Clean Yield Group now owns 128 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 48 shares in the last quarter. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Tesla in the third quarter worth $35,000. M&R Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake 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 worth $36,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA purchased a new stake in shares of Tesla during the fourth quarter valued at $46,000. 66.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.