General Motors Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:GM)

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders acquired 57,363 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 17% compared to the average volume of 48,922 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised General Motors from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $56.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of General Motors from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of General Motors from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of General Motors from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $46.00 to $54.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an “underweight” rating on shares of General Motors in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $59.71.

Insider Activity at General Motors

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GM. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in General Motors during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of General Motors in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of General Motors in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc purchased a new stake in shares of General Motors in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. lifted its position in General Motors by 551.9% during the fourth quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 502 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 425 shares during the period. 92.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Motors Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GM traded up $1.66 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $48.37. The stock had a trading volume of 12,269,326 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,442,687. The company has a market capitalization of $48.13 billion, a PE ratio of 7.86, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $50.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.34. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. General Motors has a 1 year low of $38.94 and a 1 year high of $61.24.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last issued its 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 net margin of 3.21% and a return on equity of 15.29%. As a group, equities analysts predict 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 will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. General Motors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.80%.

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.