General Motors (NYSE:GM) Shares Sold by Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lowered its position in shares of General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) by 6.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 52,471 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock after selling 3,544 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in General Motors were worth $2,380,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in General Motors in the fourth quarter valued at $602,280,000. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in General Motors by 21.9% in the fourth quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 18,097,486 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $650,062,000 after acquiring an additional 3,247,050 shares in the last quarter. Putnam Investments LLC boosted its stake in General Motors by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 20,237,820 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $726,942,000 after acquiring an additional 2,905,689 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted its stake in General Motors by 1,213.0% in the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 2,203,771 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $79,159,000 after acquiring an additional 2,035,925 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caxton Associates LP boosted its stake in General Motors by 1,514.2% in the fourth quarter. Caxton Associates LP now owns 1,755,334 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $63,052,000 after acquiring an additional 1,646,594 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.67% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Mary T. Barra sold 626,316 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.46, for a total value of $27,219,693.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,198,648 shares in the company, valued at $52,093,242.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Mary T. Barra sold 626,316 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.46, for a total transaction of $27,219,693.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,198,648 shares in the company, valued at $52,093,242.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, President Mark L. Reuss sold 150,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.44, for a total transaction of $6,516,000.00. Following the sale, the president now owns 176,907 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,684,840.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,152,621 shares of company stock worth $51,818,111 over the last ninety days. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have issued reports on GM shares. Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of General Motors from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of General Motors in a report on Thursday, April 25th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $55.00 target price for the company. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of General Motors from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of General Motors from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of General Motors from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $54.91.

General Motors Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of GM opened at $46.71 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $45.74 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.64. General Motors has a twelve month low of $26.30 and a twelve month high of $49.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $53.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.71, a PEG ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 1.43.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The auto manufacturer reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.02 by $0.60. The company had revenue of $43.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.09 billion. General Motors had a net margin of 6.13% and a return on equity of 14.40%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.21 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that General Motors will post 9.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Motors announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share 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 reacquire up to 10.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

General Motors Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 7th were given a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.03%. General Motors’s dividend payout ratio is presently 5.87%.

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.