Connors Investor Services Inc. Lowers Stock Holdings in General Motors (NYSE:GM)

Connors Investor Services Inc. lessened its holdings in General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) by 48.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,275 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock after selling 6,000 shares during the quarter. Connors Investor Services Inc.’s holdings in General Motors were worth $285,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GM. Putnam Investments LLC increased its stake in General Motors by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 20,237,820 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $726,942,000 after buying an additional 2,905,689 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Motors by 21.9% in the fourth quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 18,097,486 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $650,062,000 after purchasing an additional 3,247,050 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in General Motors during the 4th quarter worth approximately $602,280,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in General Motors by 12.0% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,731,249 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $493,226,000 after buying an additional 1,472,297 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in General Motors by 3.5% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,815,844 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $581,199,000 after purchasing an additional 438,065 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.67% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on GM shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on General Motors from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Bank of America restated a “buy” rating and issued a $75.00 price objective on shares of General Motors in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of General Motors from $44.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Wedbush boosted their price target on General Motors from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on General Motors from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.96.

General Motors Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GM traded down $1.35 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $48.30. 16,931,003 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,097,903. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $46.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.71. The company has a market cap of $55.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.90, a PEG ratio of 0.51 and a beta of 1.43. General Motors has a 52 week low of $26.30 and a 52 week high of $50.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.97.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The auto manufacturer reported $2.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.60. The business had revenue of $43.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.09 billion. General Motors had a return on equity of 14.40% and a net margin of 6.13%. General Motors’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.21 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that General Motors will post 9.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Motors Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th were issued a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. General Motors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.87%.

General Motors announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase plan on Tuesday, June 11th that permits the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the auto manufacturer to purchase up to 10.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at General Motors

In related news, CEO Mary T. Barra sold 626,316 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.46, for a total value of $27,219,693.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,198,648 shares in the company, valued at $52,093,242.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other General Motors news, CEO Mary T. Barra sold 326,305 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.33, for a total transaction of $15,770,320.65. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 898,648 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,431,657.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mary T. Barra sold 626,316 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.46, for a total value of $27,219,693.36. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,198,648 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,093,242.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,152,621 shares of company stock worth $51,818,111 over the last three months. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

General Motors Company Profile

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.