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

Toyota Motor Co. (NYSE:TM) was the target of a large 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. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 389,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.1 days. Currently, 0.1% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Toyota Motor

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Toyota Motor by 66.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 961,403 shares of the company’s stock valued at $187,099,000 after buying an additional 384,149 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Toyota Motor by 166.3% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings 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 valued at $1,207,571,000 after purchasing an additional 160,720 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Toyota Motor during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,203,000. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Toyota Motor in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $14,911,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 1.48% of the company’s stock.

Toyota Motor Stock Performance

Shares of TM traded down $3.11 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $180.68. 426,016 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 340,196. The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.64. Toyota Motor has a 52 week low of $159.04 and a 52 week high of $255.23. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $186.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $180.32. The firm has a market cap of $243.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.35 and a beta of 0.63.

Toyota Motor (NYSE:TM) last announced 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 return on equity of 14.00% and a net margin of 10.86%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Toyota Motor will post 19.76 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on TM shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Toyota Motor from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. CLSA downgraded Toyota Motor from an “outperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Macquarie upgraded Toyota Motor from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th.

Toyota Motor Company Profile

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.