Providence First Trust Co Purchases Shares of 2,729 General Motors (NYSE:GM)

Providence First Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 2,729 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock, valued at approximately $145,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Trust Point Inc. boosted its holdings in General Motors by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 7,241 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $386,000 after acquiring an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Avestar Capital LLC raised its position in shares of General Motors by 2.3% during the third quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 9,592 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $430,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Motors by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 2,925 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $131,000 after purchasing an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Holistic Planning LLC grew its position in General Motors by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Holistic Planning LLC now owns 5,759 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $307,000 after purchasing an additional 214 shares during the period. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC increased its stake in General Motors by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 36,240 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,625,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. 92.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on GM. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of General Motors from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of General Motors in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised General Motors from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $56.00 to $60.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. StockNews.com lowered General Motors from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, HSBC downgraded General Motors from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $58.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $59.71.

Insider Activity

In other General Motors news, Director Alfred F. Kelly, Jr. bought 12,000 shares of General Motors stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $50.66 per share, for a total transaction of $607,920.00. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

General Motors Price Performance

GM opened at $49.22 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $48.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.00, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.13. General Motors has a fifty-two week low of $38.94 and a fifty-two week high of $61.24. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $50.34 and a 200 day moving average of $50.35.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The auto manufacturer reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, research analysts expect that General Motors will post 11.44 EPS for the current year.

General Motors Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. General Motors’s payout ratio is presently 7.80%.

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

General Motors 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.