AustralianSuper Pty Ltd Increases Stake in General Motors (NYSE:GM)

AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) by 35.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,399,549 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock after buying an additional 1,159,958 shares during the period. General Motors accounts for 1.1% of AustralianSuper Pty Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd’s holdings in General Motors were worth $234,364,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GM. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its stake in shares of General Motors by 972.6% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 2,103,036 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $94,300,000 after purchasing an additional 1,906,964 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in shares of General Motors by 123.1% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,226,027 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $144,655,000 after acquiring an additional 1,779,897 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in General Motors by 158.8% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,171,587 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $97,374,000 after purchasing an additional 1,332,450 shares during the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd boosted its holdings in General Motors by 38.7% in the fourth quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 4,089,633 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $217,855,000 after purchasing an additional 1,140,569 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in General Motors by 6.1% in the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 17,278,448 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $774,766,000 after purchasing an additional 989,750 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.67% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of General Motors from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com cut shares of General Motors from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. HSBC cut General Motors from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $58.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on General Motors from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Wedbush raised their price target on General Motors from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Motors has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $61.28.

General Motors Stock Performance

NYSE GM opened at $47.90 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $51.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.96. The company has a market capitalization of $47.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.79, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.40. General Motors has a 1-year low of $38.05 and a 1-year high of $61.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.98.

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 net margin of 3.21% and a return on equity of 15.29%. Sell-side analysts expect that General Motors will post 11.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Motors Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Rory Harvey sold 8,919 shares of the firm’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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,513 shares in the company, valued at $510,865.13. This trade represents a 51.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Alfred F. Kelly, Jr. bought 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $50.66 per share, with a total value of $607,920.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 13,714 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $694,751.24. The trade was a 700.12 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.72% 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.