General Motors (NYSE:GM) Shares Gap Down Following Analyst Downgrade

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) gapped down before the market opened on Thursday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on the stock from $64.00 to $53.00. The stock had previously closed at $50.95, but opened at $46.99. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. General Motors shares last traded at $46.73, with a volume of 11,803,037 shares.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Morgan Stanley raised General Motors from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of General Motors from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $56.00 to $60.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of General Motors from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on General Motors from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, TD Cowen initiated coverage on General Motors in a research report on Friday, March 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $105.00 target price for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $62.11.

Insider Transactions at General Motors

In other news, Director Alfred F. Kelly, Jr. acquired 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $50.66 per share, with a total value of $607,920.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 13,714 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $694,751.24. This trade represents a 700.12 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of General Motors

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of GM. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans grew its stake in General Motors by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 52,193 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $2,340,000 after acquiring an additional 539 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of General Motors by 54.1% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 7,075 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $317,000 after purchasing an additional 2,484 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA purchased a new position in shares of General Motors during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,998,000. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in General Motors by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,628 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $746,000 after buying an additional 1,471 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in General Motors by 76.5% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 5,138 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $230,000 after buying an additional 2,227 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.67% of the company’s stock.

General Motors Stock Down 7.3 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $48.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.53. The company has a market cap of $47.00 billion, a PE ratio of 7.68, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.42.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The auto manufacturer reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.17. General Motors had a net margin of 3.21% and a return on equity of 15.29%. Research analysts anticipate that General Motors will post 11.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Motors Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.02%. General Motors’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.80%.

General Motors declared that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $6.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the auto manufacturer to buy up to 12.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

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.