General Motors (NYSE:GM) Sees Large Volume Increase

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) saw unusually-high trading volume on Friday . Approximately 5,976,441 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 61% from the previous session’s volume of 15,439,972 shares.The stock last traded at $49.60 and had previously closed at $49.47.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com cut General Motors from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of General Motors from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of General Motors in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target on shares of General Motors in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Nomura lowered shares of General Motors from a “neutral” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $34.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $55.17.

General Motors Stock Down 0.6 %

The stock has a market cap of $56.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.05, a P/E/G ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $46.01 and its 200 day moving average is $44.30.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The auto manufacturer reported $3.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.67 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $47.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $45.13 billion. General Motors had a return on equity of 15.77% and a net margin of 6.22%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.91 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that General Motors will post 9.94 EPS for the current year.

General Motors Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.98%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, September 6th. General Motors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.87%.

General Motors announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Tuesday, June 11th that permits the company to buyback $6.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the auto manufacturer to buy up to 10.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Mary T. Barra sold 326,305 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.33, for a total value of $15,770,320.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 898,648 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,431,657.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Mary T. Barra sold 326,305 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.33, for a total transaction of $15,770,320.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 898,648 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,431,657.84. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Rory Harvey sold 12,795 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.02, for a total value of $627,210.90. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,513 shares in the company, valued at approximately $417,307.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 391,402 shares of company stock worth $18,818,536. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Motors

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of GM. Certuity LLC bought a new stake in General Motors in the fourth quarter valued at about $217,000. Savant Capital LLC increased its stake in General Motors by 34.7% in the fourth quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 19,770 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $710,000 after purchasing an additional 5,090 shares in the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC raised its holdings in General Motors by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 6,662 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $239,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the period. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. grew its holdings in shares of General Motors by 26.4% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 19,654 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $706,000 after buying an additional 4,105 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of General Motors by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,497,100 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $233,376,000 after buying an additional 30,641 shares in 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.