Short Interest in Toyota Motor Co. (NYSE:TM) Increases By 45.9%

Toyota Motor Co. (NYSE:TM) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 1,430,000 shares, a growth of 45.9% from the March 15th total of 980,100 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 390,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.7 days. Approximately 0.1% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Toyota Motor

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Toyota Motor by 4.2% in the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,662 shares of the company’s stock valued at $324,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC raised its stake in Toyota Motor by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 2,441 shares of the company’s stock valued at $475,000 after acquiring an additional 79 shares during the period. Quadrant Capital Group LLC lifted its holdings in Toyota Motor by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 9,517 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,852,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont boosted its position in Toyota Motor by 113.3% during the fourth quarter. Trust Co. of Vermont now owns 160 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Finally, Gradient Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Toyota Motor by 3.2% in the first quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 2,748 shares of the company’s stock valued at $485,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 1.48% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on TM. CLSA lowered shares of Toyota Motor from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Macquarie raised Toyota Motor from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. StockNews.com raised Toyota Motor from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of Toyota Motor in a research note on Monday, April 14th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Toyota Motor currently has an average rating of “Hold”.

Toyota Motor Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE TM opened at $176.44 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.21. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $180.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $179.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $237.74 billion, a PE ratio of 7.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 0.64. Toyota Motor has a 52 week low of $155.00 and a 52 week high of $235.68.

Toyota Motor (NYSE:TM) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The company reported $9.98 earnings per share 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 predict that Toyota Motor will post 19.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.