General Motors (NYSE:GM) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Here’s Why

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) shares saw unusually-strong trading volume on Monday . Approximately 13,057,746 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 19% from the previous session’s volume of 10,993,902 shares.The stock last traded at $48.67 and had previously closed at $49.46.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of General Motors from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $56.00 to $60.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of General Motors from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $46.00 to $54.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. DZ Bank cut shares of General Motors from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $49.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, October 11th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of General Motors from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of General Motors from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Motors currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $61.28.

General Motors Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $52.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.94. The stock has a market cap of $47.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.40.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The auto manufacturer reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.17. General Motors had a return on equity of 15.29% and a net margin of 3.21%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that General Motors will post 11.41 EPS for the current year.

General Motors Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. General Motors’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.80%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Rory Harvey sold 8,919 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.01, for a total transaction of $535,229.19. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,513 shares in the company, valued at approximately $510,865.13. This represents a 51.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Craig B. Glidden sold 383,142 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 122,465 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,935,192.95. This represents a 75.78 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norden Group LLC lifted its holdings in General Motors by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 7,906 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $421,000 after purchasing an additional 229 shares in the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in General Motors by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 11,659 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $626,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Hickory Point Bank & Trust bought a new position in General Motors in the 4th quarter worth about $487,000. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. increased its stake in General Motors by 9,960.0% in the 4th quarter. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. now owns 503 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 498 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Metis Global Partners LLC increased its stake in General Motors by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 37,325 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $1,988,000 after acquiring an additional 1,085 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.67% of the company’s stock.

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.