General Motors (NYSE:GM) Trading Down 0.7%

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) shares dropped 0.7% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $47.90 and last traded at $48.27. Approximately 3,135,966 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average daily volume of 15,259,799 shares. The stock had previously closed at $48.62.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. UBS Group boosted their target price on General Motors from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on General Motors from $34.00 to $33.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on General Motors from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Nomura cut General Motors from a “neutral” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $34.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut General Motors from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $46.00 to $47.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Motors has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.27.

General Motors Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $55.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.18. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $45.17.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The auto manufacturer reported $3.06 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.67 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $47.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $45.13 billion. General Motors had a return on equity of 15.77% and a net margin of 6.22%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.91 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that General Motors will post 9.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Motors Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were given a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. General Motors’s payout ratio is 5.87%.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Rory Harvey sold 12,795 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.02, for a total transaction of $627,210.90. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,513 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $417,307.26. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other General Motors news, CFO Paul A. Jacobson purchased 25,000 shares of General Motors stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $44.11 per share, for a total transaction of $1,102,750.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief financial officer now owns 261,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,551,173.92. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Rory Harvey sold 12,795 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.02, for a total transaction of $627,210.90. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,513 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $417,307.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of General Motors by 14.6% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 48,767,573 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $2,211,609,000 after buying an additional 6,201,777 shares during the period. Putnam Investments LLC lifted its holdings in General Motors by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 20,237,820 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $726,942,000 after acquiring an additional 2,905,689 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its position in General Motors by 21.9% in the fourth quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 18,097,486 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $650,062,000 after buying an additional 3,247,050 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in General Motors by 1.1% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,951,561 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $601,730,000 after buying an additional 135,717 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in General Motors by 9.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 12,922,021 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $600,291,000 after buying an additional 1,091,137 shares during the last quarter. 92.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.