General Motors (NYSE:GM) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) shares gapped down before the market opened on Thursday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on the stock from $64.00 to $53.00. The stock had previously closed at $50.95, but opened at $46.99. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. General Motors shares last traded at $46.73, with a volume of 11,803,037 shares.

GM has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Hsbc Global Res downgraded General Motors from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. HSBC lowered General Motors from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $58.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Cowen started coverage on General Motors in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of General Motors from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $56.00 to $60.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group set a $73.00 price objective on shares of General Motors in a research note on Saturday, March 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, General Motors has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.11.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Motors

In other General Motors news, Director Alfred F. Kelly, Jr. purchased 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $50.66 per share, for a total transaction of $607,920.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 13,714 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $694,751.24. This represents a 700.12 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in General Motors by 19.7% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 9,164 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $488,000 after purchasing an additional 1,510 shares in the last quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp bought a new stake in General Motors in the 4th quarter valued at about $474,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its stake in General Motors by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 463,848 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $25,178,000 after buying an additional 39,474 shares during the period. Avantra Family Wealth Inc. bought a new position in General Motors in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,044,000. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its stake in General Motors by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 202,054 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $10,763,000 after acquiring an additional 19,924 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.67% of the company’s stock.

General Motors Stock Performance

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 fifty day moving average price of $48.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.53. The stock has a market cap of $46.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.59, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.42.

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

General Motors Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were issued a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.03%. General Motors’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.80%.

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

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.