Short Interest in Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) Rises By 101,734.1%

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in July. As of July 15th, there was short interest totaling 69,960,000 shares, agrowthof101,734.1% from the June 30th total of 68,700 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 110,660,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.6 days. Based on an average daily volume of 110,660,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 0.6 days.

Tesla Stock Down 1.8%

TSLA stock opened at $302.63 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $976.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 174.93, a PEG ratio of 10.63 and a beta of 2.33. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $322.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $311.03. Tesla has a one year low of $182.00 and a one year high of $488.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a quick ratio of 1.55 and a current ratio of 2.04.

Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 23rd. The electric vehicle producer reported $0.40 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $22.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $23.18 billion. Tesla had a net margin of 6.54% and a return on equity of 7.98%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 11.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.52 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Tesla will post 2.56 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Ira Matthew Ehrenpreis sold 477,572 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $357.30, for a total transaction of $170,636,475.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 855,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $305,632,276.20. This represents a 35.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Vaibhav Taneja sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $341.02, for a total transaction of $2,046,120.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 1,950 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $664,989. This represents a 75.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 719,119 shares of company stock valued at $246,186,549 over the last ninety days. 20.70% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Tesla

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 246,887,705 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $63,983,418,000 after purchasing an additional 3,694,524 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 40.1% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 34,661,400 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $13,997,660,000 after purchasing an additional 9,920,325 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 21.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 28,579,615 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $11,541,592,000 after acquiring an additional 5,075,418 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 322.1% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 26,590,525 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $6,891,201,000 after acquiring an additional 20,291,139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Tesla by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 24,536,519 shares of the electric vehicle producer’s stock valued at $9,908,828,000 after acquiring an additional 158,697 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 66.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on TSLA shares. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Tesla from $325.00 to $275.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $320.00 target price on shares of Tesla in a report on Monday, June 9th. Glj Research reaffirmed a “sell” rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their target price on shares of Tesla from $425.00 to $355.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Tesla in a report on Thursday, July 24th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, fifteen have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $303.31.

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.