Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Put Options on General Motors (NYSE:GM)

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) was the target of unusually large options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors acquired 66,908 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 32% compared to the average daily volume of 50,611 put options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of General Motors from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of General Motors from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of General Motors in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of General Motors in a research report on Friday, March 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $105.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on General Motors from $64.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.11.

General Motors Stock Down 7.3 %

Shares of GM stock opened at $47.24 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $48.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $50.53. General Motors has a 52 week low of $38.96 and a 52 week high of $61.24. The stock has a market cap of $47.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.68, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38.

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

General Motors announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $6.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the auto manufacturer to purchase up to 12.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

General Motors Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Alfred F. Kelly, Jr. bought 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were bought at an average price of $50.66 per share, for a total transaction of $607,920.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 13,714 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $694,751.24. This trade represents a 700.12 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.72% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Motors

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GM. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of General Motors by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 29,273,136 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $1,559,380,000 after acquiring an additional 1,170,816 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in General Motors by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 23,796,969 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $1,264,567,000 after purchasing an additional 176,436 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of General Motors by 6.1% during the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 17,278,448 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $774,766,000 after buying an additional 989,750 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of General Motors by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,066,883 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $749,382,000 after buying an additional 228,408 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of General Motors in the fourth quarter worth approximately $592,321,000. 92.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About General Motors

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.