General Motors (NYSE:GM) Downgraded to Hold Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Wednesday morning.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on GM. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on General Motors from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised shares of General Motors from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $46.00 to $54.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of General Motors from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of General Motors from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $56.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on General Motors from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.28.

General Motors Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GM opened at $47.35 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.12 billion, a PE ratio of 7.70, a PEG ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.40. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $51.96 and a 200-day moving average of $49.91. General Motors has a 12 month low of $37.83 and a 12 month high of $61.24.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The auto manufacturer reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.17. General Motors had a net margin of 3.21% and a return on equity of 15.29%. On average, equities research analysts predict that General Motors will post 11.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Motors Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. General Motors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.80%.

Insider Activity at General Motors

In other General Motors news, EVP Craig B. Glidden sold 383,142 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.63, for a total value of $21,697,331.46. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 122,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,935,192.95. This trade represents a 75.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Rory Harvey sold 8,919 shares of General Motors stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.01, for a total transaction of $535,229.19. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,513 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $510,865.13. This trade represents a 51.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.72% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of General Motors

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in General Motors by 19.7% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 9,164 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $488,000 after acquiring an additional 1,510 shares during the period. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Motors by 15.9% in the 3rd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 11,382 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $510,000 after purchasing an additional 1,559 shares in the last quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. grew its position in General Motors by 12.1% in the 3rd quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 1,629,573 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $73,070,000 after purchasing an additional 175,860 shares during the period. Foster & Motley Inc. increased its stake in General Motors by 121.5% during the 3rd quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 47,169 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $2,115,000 after purchasing an additional 25,869 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC raised its holdings in General Motors by 115.1% during the third quarter. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC now owns 178,443 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $8,001,000 after buying an additional 95,484 shares during the last quarter. 92.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.