General Motors (NYSE:GM) Price Target Raised to $61.00 at The Goldman Sachs Group

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) had its price target upped by The Goldman Sachs Group from $53.00 to $61.00 in a research note released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the auto manufacturer’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on GM. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a hold rating and set a $53.00 target price on shares of General Motors in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of General Motors from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating and decreased their target price for the company from $47.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of General Motors from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Nomura Securities raised shares of General Motors to a strong sell rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Finally, Wedbush reissued an outperform rating and set a $55.00 price target on shares of General Motors in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Motors has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $55.47.

General Motors Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GM opened at $45.68 on Tuesday. General Motors has a fifty-two week low of $26.30 and a fifty-two week high of $50.50. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $45.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $45.64. The company has a market capitalization of $52.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.58, a P/E/G ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.18.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.67 by $0.39. General Motors had a net margin of 6.22% and a return on equity of 15.77%. The business had revenue of $47.97 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $45.13 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.91 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that General Motors will post 9.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Motors Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, September 6th were paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.05%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, September 6th. General Motors’s dividend payout ratio is presently 5.87%.

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

Insider Transactions at General Motors

In other General Motors news, CFO Paul A. Jacobson purchased 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $44.11 per share, for a total transaction of $1,102,750.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now directly owns 261,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,551,173.92. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Rory Harvey sold 2,302 shares of General Motors 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 10,356 shares in the company, valued at approximately $489,942.36. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Paul A. Jacobson bought 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $44.11 per share, for a total transaction of $1,102,750.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 261,872 shares in the company, valued at $11,551,173.92. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of General Motors

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of General Motors by 14.6% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 48,767,573 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $2,211,609,000 after buying an additional 6,201,777 shares during the last quarter. Putnam Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Motors by 16.8% in the 4th quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 20,237,820 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $726,942,000 after buying an additional 2,905,689 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Motors by 21.9% in the 4th quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 18,097,486 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $650,062,000 after buying an additional 3,247,050 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in General Motors by 1.1% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,951,561 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $601,730,000 after purchasing an additional 135,717 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in General Motors by 9.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 12,922,021 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $600,291,000 after purchasing an additional 1,091,137 shares during the period. 92.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.