Merit Financial Group LLC Grows Stock Holdings in General Motors (NYSE:GM)

Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) by 41.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 18,323 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock after buying an additional 5,335 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in General Motors were worth $976,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in General Motors by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 9,184 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $412,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares during the period. Avestar Capital LLC lifted its stake in General Motors by 2.3% in the third quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 9,592 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $430,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares during the period. Continuum Advisory LLC grew its holdings in General Motors by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter. Continuum Advisory LLC now owns 2,925 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $131,000 after acquiring an additional 213 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of General Motors by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 36,240 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,625,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Centaurus Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of General Motors by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 11,628 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $540,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 92.67% of the company’s stock.

General Motors Stock Performance

NYSE GM opened at $53.97 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.75, a PEG ratio of 0.37 and a beta of 1.42. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $53.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.21. General Motors has a fifty-two week low of $34.56 and a fifty-two week high of $61.24.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The auto manufacturer reported $2.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.49 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $48.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.67 billion. General Motors had a return on equity of 16.30% and a net margin of 6.06%. General Motors’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.28 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that General Motors will post 10.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other General Motors news, EVP Craig B. Glidden sold 383,142 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.63, for a total value of $21,697,331.46. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 122,465 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,935,192.95. This trade represents a 75.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Rory Harvey sold 8,919 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.01, for a total value of $535,229.19. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,513 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $510,865.13. The trade was a 51.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 514,344 shares of company stock valued at $28,977,691. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on GM. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of General Motors from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded General Motors from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of General Motors from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Wedbush lifted their price objective on shares of General Motors from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of General Motors from $53.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, General Motors presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $60.05.

General Motors 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.