Toyota Motor Co. (NYSE:TM) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Toyota Motor Co. (NYSE:TM) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,220,000 shares, an increase of 43.3% from the January 31st total of 851,100 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 389,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.1 days. Approximately 0.1% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Toyota Motor

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Toyota Motor by 66.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 961,403 shares of the company’s stock worth $187,099,000 after purchasing an additional 384,149 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its position in shares of Toyota Motor by 166.3% during the 4th quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 374,864 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,952,000 after acquiring an additional 234,078 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Toyota Motor by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,762,449 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,207,571,000 after purchasing an additional 160,720 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Toyota Motor in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,203,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Toyota Motor in the third quarter worth $14,911,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 1.48% of the company’s stock.

Toyota Motor Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of TM stock traded down $3.11 on Tuesday, reaching $180.68. 426,016 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 340,196. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a current ratio of 1.21 and a quick ratio of 1.06. Toyota Motor has a one year low of $159.04 and a one year high of $255.23. The company has a 50-day moving average of $186.41 and a 200-day moving average of $180.32. The company has a market cap of $243.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.46, a PEG ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 0.63.

Toyota Motor (NYSE:TM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $9.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.36 by $5.62. Toyota Motor had a net margin of 10.86% and a return on equity of 14.00%. Analysts anticipate that Toyota Motor will post 19.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on TM. CLSA cut shares of Toyota Motor from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. StockNews.com raised Toyota Motor from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Macquarie raised shares of Toyota Motor from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th.

About Toyota Motor

Toyota Motor Corporation designs, manufactures, assembles, and sells passenger vehicles, minivans and commercial vehicles, and related parts and accessories in Japan, North America, Europe, Asia, Central and South America, Oceania, Africa, and the Middle East. It operates in Automotive, Financial Services, and All Other segments.