Welch & Forbes LLC Sells 1,700 Shares of General Motors (NYSE:GM)

Welch & Forbes LLC decreased its stake in General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) by 6.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 23,877 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock after selling 1,700 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in General Motors were worth $1,272,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of General Motors in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of General Motors in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in shares of General Motors in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of General Motors by 9,960.0% in the 4th quarter. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. now owns 503 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 498 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. acquired a new stake in General Motors in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Institutional investors own 92.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GM. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of General Motors from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and raised their target price for the company from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of General Motors from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of General Motors in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded shares of General Motors from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $56.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Mizuho raised their target price on shares of General Motors from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Motors has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $62.22.

Insider Activity at General Motors

In other news, Director Alfred F. Kelly, Jr. acquired 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were acquired at an average cost 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 $694,751.24. The trade was a 700.12 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

General Motors Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE GM opened at $47.39 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. General Motors has a 1-year low of $38.94 and a 1-year high of $61.24. The company has a 50 day moving average of $49.70 and a 200-day moving average of $50.44. The company has a market cap of $47.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.71, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.42.

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

General Motors Announces Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. General Motors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.80%.

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

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.