Traders Buy Large Volume of General Motors Put Options (NYSE:GM)

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) was the target of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Traders bought 66,908 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 32% compared to the typical volume of 50,611 put options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of General Motors in a research report on Friday, March 7th. They set a “buy” rating and a $105.00 price target on the stock. Hsbc Global Res lowered General Motors from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on General Motors from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $73.00 target price on shares of General Motors in a research note on Saturday, March 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised 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 note on Tuesday, January 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $63.06.

Insider Activity at General Motors

In other news, Director Alfred F. Kelly, Jr. acquired 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was bought 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 $694,751.24. This represents a 700.12 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.72% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in GM. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in General Motors during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of General Motors in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Motors in the third quarter worth $27,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new stake in General Motors during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. boosted its position in General Motors by 9,960.0% during the 4th quarter. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. now owns 503 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 498 shares during the period. 92.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Motors Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GM traded down $0.81 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $51.78. 6,644,121 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,939,554. General Motors has a 52-week low of $38.96 and a 52-week high of $61.24. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $49.08 and a 200 day moving average of $50.55. 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 company has a market cap of $51.52 billion, a PE ratio of 8.41, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.42.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The auto manufacturer reported $1.92 earnings per share (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%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that General Motors will post 11.44 EPS for the current year.

General Motors Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. General Motors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.80%.

General Motors announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the auto manufacturer to buy up to 12.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors 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.