Short Interest in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) Declines By 16.6%

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) was the target of a large decline in short interest during the month of 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Tesla from $270.00 to $325.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group raised their price target on Tesla from $197.00 to $226.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research report on Monday, November 25th. HSBC reissued a "reduce" rating and set a $124.00 price objective on shares of Tesla in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Phillip Securities lowered Tesla from a "moderate sell" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Tesla from $411.00 to $492.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have assigned a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $299.33.

Tesla Price Performance

Shares of TSLA stock traded up $12.68 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $426.50. 94,422,250 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 81,625,227. Tesla has a 52 week low of $138.80 and a 52 week high of $488.54. The stock has a market cap of $1.37 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 116.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 6.53 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 50-day moving average is $387.84 and its 200-day moving average is $286.58.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.58 by $0.14. Tesla had a net margin of 13.07% and a return on equity of 10.24%. The firm had revenue of $25.18 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $25.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.53 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Tesla will post 1.99 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Tesla

In related news, Director Kathleen Wilson-Thompson sold 100,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $346.02, for a total value of $34,602,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 5,400 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,868,508. The trade was a 94.88 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Robyn M. Denholm sold 112,390 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $314.44, for a total value of $35,339,911.60. Following the transaction, the director now owns 85,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,727,400. This trade represents a 56.94 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 621,886 shares of company stock valued at $213,451,751. Insiders own 20.70% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of TSLA. World Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Tesla by 1,248.9% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 199,229 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $52,124,000 after acquiring an additional 184,459 shares during the last quarter. Destination Wealth Management grew its position in shares of Tesla by 12.1% during the 3rd quarter. Destination Wealth Management now owns 12,597 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock worth $3,296,000 after buying an additional 1,359 shares during the period. Vinva Investment Management Ltd lifted its holdings in Tesla by 59.2% in the third quarter. Vinva Investment Management Ltd now owns 117,457 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $30,593,000 after buying an additional 43,685 shares during the period. MML Investors Services LLC lifted its stake in Tesla by 3.3% in the third quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 309,382 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $80,944,000 after buying an additional 9,919 shares during the period. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Tesla by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 144,482 shares of the electric vehicle producer's stock valued at $37,801,000 after buying an additional 1,741 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.20% of the company's stock.

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.