Cornerstone Advisors LLC Decreases Holdings in General Motors (NYSE:GM)

Cornerstone Advisors LLC trimmed its position in shares of General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) by 6.9% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 66,300 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock after selling 4,900 shares during the quarter. Cornerstone Advisors LLC’s holdings in General Motors were worth $3,080,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of GM. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of General Motors in the 4th quarter worth approximately $602,280,000. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of General Motors by 14.6% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 48,767,573 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $2,211,609,000 after buying an additional 6,201,777 shares during the last quarter. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in shares of General Motors in the 1st quarter worth approximately $159,750,000. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of General Motors by 21.9% in the 4th quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 18,097,486 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $650,062,000 after buying an additional 3,247,050 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Putnam Investments LLC grew its position in shares of General Motors by 16.8% in 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 during the last quarter. 92.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on GM. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on General Motors in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on General Motors from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Nomura lowered General Motors from a “neutral” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $34.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, August 5th. StockNews.com lowered General Motors from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on General Motors from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.27.

General Motors Price Performance

Shares of General Motors stock opened at $46.87 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $46.20 and its 200 day moving average is $45.08. General Motors has a one year low of $26.30 and a one year high of $50.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.18. The stock has a market cap of $53.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.73, a P/E/G ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.43.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The auto manufacturer reported $3.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.67 by $0.39. General Motors had a net margin of 6.22% and a return on equity of 15.77%. The company had revenue of $47.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $45.13 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.91 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that General Motors will post 9.95 earnings per share for the current year.

General Motors Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be paid a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.02%. General Motors’s payout ratio is presently 5.87%.

General Motors declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Tuesday, June 11th that allows the company to buyback $6.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the auto manufacturer to repurchase up to 10.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Motors news, CFO Paul A. Jacobson purchased 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 26th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $44.11 per share, for a total transaction of $1,102,750.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 261,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,551,173.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, CFO Paul A. Jacobson acquired 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $44.11 per share, for a total transaction of $1,102,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 261,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,551,173.92. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Rory Harvey sold 12,795 shares of General Motors stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.02, for a total value of $627,210.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,513 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $417,307.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.