Smartleaf Asset Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in General Motors (NYSE:GM)

Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,659 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock after buying an additional 290 shares during the quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC’s holdings in General Motors were worth $626,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Hickory Point Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of General Motors during the fourth quarter worth about $487,000. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. lifted its position in General Motors by 9,960.0% in the fourth quarter. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. now owns 503 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its position in General Motors by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 37,325 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $1,988,000 after purchasing an additional 1,085 shares during the period. Providence First Trust Co acquired a new stake in General Motors in the fourth quarter valued at about $145,000. Finally, US Bancorp DE lifted its position in General Motors by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 108,137 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $5,760,000 after purchasing an additional 6,838 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.67% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Alfred F. Kelly, Jr. bought 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $50.66 per share, with a total value of $607,920.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 13,714 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $694,751.24. The trade was a 700.12 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.72% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of General Motors from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of General Motors in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of General Motors from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $56.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “underweight” rating on shares of General Motors in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, HSBC downgraded shares of General Motors from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $58.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $59.71.

General Motors Trading Down 3.6 %

Shares of GM opened at $47.37 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $50.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.47. General Motors has a 1-year low of $38.94 and a 1-year high of $61.24. The stock has a market cap of $47.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.40.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The auto manufacturer reported $1.92 EPS 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%. Equities analysts forecast that General Motors will post 11.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Motors announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to buyback $6.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the auto manufacturer to purchase up to 12.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

General Motors Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.01%. General Motors’s payout ratio is currently 7.80%.

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.