Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) Short Interest Update

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 81,330,000 shares, a growth of 21.2% from the February 28th total of 67,130,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 93,410,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.9 days. Currently, 3.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $411.63, for a total transaction of $41,163,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,400 shares in the company, valued at $2,222,802. This represents a 94.88 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director James R. Murdoch sold 54,776 shares of Tesla stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $240.79, for a total value of $13,189,513.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 477,011 shares in the company, valued at $114,859,478.69. This trade represents a 10.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 477,228 shares of company stock worth $166,849,043 in the last quarter. 20.70% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of TSLA. Hengehold Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Tesla by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Hengehold Capital Management LLC now owns 1,347 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $544,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Advisors MI boosted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI now owns 6,990 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $2,823,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC grew its position in Tesla by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC now owns 2,814 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $1,136,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the period. Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Tesla by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,305 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $2,950,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vista Finance LLC raised its position in Tesla by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vista Finance LLC now owns 3,510 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $1,417,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the period. 66.20% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

TSLA has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald upgraded shares of Tesla from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $425.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Tesla from $430.00 to $410.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “cautious” rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Monday, March 3rd. New Street Research raised Tesla from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $460.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Benchmark initiated coverage on Tesla in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $475.00 price objective on the stock. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $317.75.

Tesla Trading Up 5.3 %

Tesla stock opened at $282.76 on Thursday. Tesla has a one year low of $138.80 and a one year high of $488.54. The business’s fifty day moving average is $312.22 and its 200 day moving average is $323.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 2.02 and a quick ratio of 1.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $909.50 billion, a PE ratio of 138.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.86 and a beta of 2.50.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.66 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.74 by ($0.08). Tesla had a net margin of 7.26% and a return on equity of 10.31%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Tesla will post 2.56 EPS for the current 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.