Ballentine Partners LLC Buys 5,256 Shares of General Motors (NYSE:GM)

Ballentine Partners LLC grew its holdings in General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) by 52.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 15,247 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,256 shares during the quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC’s holdings in General Motors were worth $691,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado increased its stake in General Motors by 1,213.0% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 2,203,771 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $79,159,000 after acquiring an additional 2,035,925 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its stake in shares of General Motors by 18.5% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 475,061 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $17,064,000 after purchasing an additional 74,194 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in shares of General Motors by 59.3% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 86,888 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $3,121,000 after purchasing an additional 32,331 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its position in General Motors by 317.6% during the 4th quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 67,807 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $2,436,000 after purchasing an additional 51,571 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in General Motors by 361.1% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 119,714 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $4,300,000 after acquiring an additional 93,754 shares during the last quarter. 92.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

General Motors Stock Performance

NYSE GM traded up $0.80 on Monday, reaching $48.52. 1,853,796 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,873,707. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. General Motors has a one year low of $26.30 and a one year high of $49.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $55.36 billion, a PE ratio of 5.83, a PEG ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.46. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $45.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.00.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The auto manufacturer reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.60. The business had revenue of $43.01 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.09 billion. General Motors had a return on equity of 14.40% and a net margin of 6.13%. The business’s revenue was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.21 earnings per share. Analysts expect that General Motors will post 9.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Motors declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, June 11th that permits the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the auto manufacturer to purchase up to 10.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

General Motors Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were given a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.99%. General Motors’s dividend payout ratio is currently 5.87%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Christopher Hatto sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $157,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 12,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $540,315. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other General Motors news, CAO Christopher Hatto sold 3,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $157,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 12,007 shares in the company, valued at $540,315. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Mary T. Barra sold 626,316 shares of General Motors stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.46, for a total transaction of $27,219,693.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,198,648 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,093,242.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,183,243 shares of company stock worth $53,203,153. Insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on GM. Wedbush increased their price target on General Motors from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of General Motors from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays upped their price objective on General Motors from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on General Motors in a report on Thursday, April 25th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $55.00 price objective for the company. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of General Motors from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, General Motors currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $54.81.

General Motors Company Profile

General Motors Company designs, builds, and sells trucks, crossovers, cars, and automobile parts; and provide software-enabled services and subscriptions worldwide. The company operates through GM North America, GM International, Cruise, and GM Financial segments. It markets its vehicles primarily under the Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Baojun, and Wuling brand names.