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

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 67,380,000 shares, a decline of 16.6% from the December 15th 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.

Tesla Stock Performance

Shares of TSLA stock traded down $14.95 during trading on Thursday, reaching $413.27. 38,392,115 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 77,185,703. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $382.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $284.69. Tesla has a twelve month low of $138.80 and a twelve month high of $488.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.33 trillion, a PE ratio of 113.22, a PEG ratio of 6.53 and a beta of 2.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.58 by $0.14. Tesla had a net margin of 13.07% and a return on equity of 10.24%. The company had revenue of $25.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.53 earnings per share. Tesla’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Tesla will post 1.99 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TSLA has been the topic of several analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Tesla from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a report on Monday, November 18th. Mizuho raised Tesla from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $230.00 to $515.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Tesla from $249.00 to $313.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, HSBC reiterated a “reduce” rating and set a $124.00 price target on shares of Tesla in a report on Friday, October 11th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $299.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Kimbal Musk sold 60,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $250.23, for a total value of $15,138,915.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 1,563,220 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $391,164,540.60. This represents a 3.73 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 4,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $251.76, for a total transaction of $1,007,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 105,032 shares in the company, valued at $26,442,856.32. The trade was a 3.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 621,886 shares of company stock worth $213,451,751. Corporate insiders own 20.70% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Acropolis Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Tesla by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC now owns 2,814 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $1,136,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Tesla by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Mount Vernon Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,305 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $2,950,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Connable Office Inc. increased its position in Tesla by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Connable Office Inc. now owns 12,872 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $3,368,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Community Bank N.A. raised its stake in shares of Tesla by 4.4% during the third quarter. Community Bank N.A. now owns 908 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $238,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Holistic Financial Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 1.0% during the third quarter. Holistic Financial Partners now owns 4,055 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock worth $1,061,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

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.