General Motors (NYSE:GM) Shares Sold by Simplicity Wealth LLC

Simplicity Wealth LLC reduced its position in shares of General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) by 52.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,881 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock after selling 4,329 shares during the period. Simplicity Wealth LLC’s holdings in General Motors were worth $207,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of General Motors by 19.7% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 9,164 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $488,000 after purchasing an additional 1,510 shares during the last quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp acquired a new position in shares of General Motors during the 4th quarter valued at about $474,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of General Motors by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 463,848 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $25,178,000 after acquiring an additional 39,474 shares during the last quarter. Avantra Family Wealth Inc. acquired a new stake in General Motors in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,044,000. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its holdings in General Motors by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 202,054 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $10,763,000 after buying an additional 19,924 shares during the last quarter. 92.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Motors

In other General Motors news, Director Alfred F. Kelly, Jr. bought 12,000 shares of General Motors stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $50.66 per share, for a total transaction of $607,920.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 13,714 shares in the company, valued at approximately $694,751.24. This represents a 700.12 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

General Motors Price Performance

Shares of GM opened at $48.32 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $48.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $49.49 and a 200 day moving average of $50.51. General Motors has a twelve month low of $38.94 and a twelve month high of $61.24.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The auto manufacturer reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.17. General Motors had a net margin of 3.21% and a return on equity of 15.29%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that General Motors will post 11.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Motors announced that its board has authorized a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the auto manufacturer to repurchase up to 12.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

General Motors Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. General Motors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.80%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on GM. Hsbc Global Res downgraded General Motors from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. StockNews.com cut General Motors from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of General Motors in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Morgan Stanley raised General Motors from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded General Motors from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $56.00 to $60.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $62.89.

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.