General Motors (NYSE:GM) Shares Down 0.9% – Should You Sell?

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U)’s stock price traded down 0.9% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $44.06 and last traded at $44.43. 2,634,022 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 15,249,625 shares. The stock had previously closed at $44.82.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on GM. Nomura lowered General Motors from a “neutral” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $34.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $53.00 price target on shares of General Motors in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered General Motors from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $53.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. UBS Group lifted their price target on General Motors from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on General Motors from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Motors presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $55.47.

General Motors Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $52.12 billion, a PE ratio of 5.58, a P/E/G ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.42. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $45.91 and a 200-day moving average of $45.64.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The auto manufacturer reported $3.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.67 by $0.39. General Motors had a return on equity of 15.77% and a net margin of 6.22%. The company had revenue of $47.97 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $45.13 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.91 EPS. General Motors’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that General Motors will post 9.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Motors Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th were issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, September 6th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.05%. General Motors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 5.87%.

General Motors declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Motors news, EVP Rory Harvey sold 12,795 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.02, for a total transaction of $627,210.90. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,513 shares in the company, valued at approximately $417,307.26. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Paul A. Jacobson purchased 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $44.11 per share, with a total value of $1,102,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 261,872 shares in the company, valued at $11,551,173.92. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Rory Harvey sold 12,795 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was 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. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of General Motors

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GM. Park Avenue Securities LLC lifted its position in General Motors by 19.5% in the 3rd quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 38,618 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,732,000 after acquiring an additional 6,292 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its position in General Motors by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 228,954 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $10,266,000 after acquiring an additional 11,533 shares in the last quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. lifted its position in General Motors by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Abacus Planning Group Inc. now owns 10,202 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $457,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. lifted its position in General Motors by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 11,628 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $540,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new position in General Motors in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,580,000. 92.67% of the stock is 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.