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

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

Toyota Motor Price Performance

TM stock traded up $2.36 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $183.84. 522,718 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 339,594. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $186.34 and a 200 day simple moving average of $180.30. Toyota Motor has a one year low of $159.04 and a one year high of $255.23. The company has a market cap of $247.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.59, a P/E/G ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 0.63.

Toyota Motor (NYSE:TM) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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%. Equities analysts forecast that Toyota Motor will post 19.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

TM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. CLSA cut shares of Toyota Motor from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Macquarie upgraded shares of Toyota Motor from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Toyota Motor from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 7th.

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.