General Motors (NYSE:GM) Cut to Underweight at Morgan Stanley

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) was downgraded by analysts at Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday, MarketBeat.com reports. They presently have a $42.00 price objective on the auto manufacturer’s stock, down from their previous price objective of $47.00. Morgan Stanley’s target price would suggest a potential downside of 8.30% from the company’s current price.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein cut shares of General Motors from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $53.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of General Motors from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. UBS Group increased their price target on General Motors from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Nomura Securities upgraded General Motors to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Nomura downgraded General Motors from a “neutral” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $34.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, General Motors presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $54.92.

General Motors Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of GM opened at $45.80 on Wednesday. General Motors has a twelve month low of $26.30 and a twelve month high of $50.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $51.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.56 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 stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $46.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.42.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The auto manufacturer reported $3.06 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.67 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $47.97 billion for 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.91 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that General Motors will post 9.95 earnings per share for the current year.

General Motors declared that its board has approved a share buyback program on Tuesday, June 11th that permits the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the auto manufacturer to repurchase up to 10.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity at General Motors

In other General Motors news, EVP Rory Harvey sold 2,302 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.31, for a total transaction of $108,907.62. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,356 shares in the company, valued at $489,942.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other General Motors news, EVP Rory Harvey sold 2,302 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.31, for a total transaction of $108,907.62. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 10,356 shares in the company, valued at $489,942.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Paul A. Jacobson purchased 25,000 shares of General Motors stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 261,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,551,173.92. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.72% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Motors

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GM. LifeSteps Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of General Motors in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in General Motors in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in General Motors in the second quarter valued at $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Motors by 56.1% during the second quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 626 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the period. Finally, Cape Investment Advisory Inc. grew its position in shares of General Motors by 75.9% during the fourth quarter. Cape Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 832 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 359 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.