General Motors (NYSE:GM) Short Interest Down 9.5% in October

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) was the target of a large drop in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 29,650,000 shares, a drop of 9.5% from the October 15th total of 32,760,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 12,470,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.4 days. Currently, 2.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other General Motors news, EVP Rory Harvey sold 12,795 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.02, for a total value of $627,210.90. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,513 shares in the company, valued at approximately $417,307.26. This trade represents a 60.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mary T. Barra sold 506,824 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.33, for a total transaction of $27,028,923.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 694,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,040,244.84. This represents a 42.19 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 653,511 shares of company stock worth $35,012,844 in the last quarter. 0.72% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Motors

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GM. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in General Motors in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Motors during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Motors during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC bought a new position in General Motors in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its stake in General Motors by 56.1% during the second quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 626 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. 92.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

General Motors Stock Performance

NYSE:GM traded down $0.85 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $55.40. 10,449,719 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,878,221. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.92 billion, a PE ratio of 6.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.43 and a beta of 1.40. General Motors has a one year low of $27.70 and a one year high of $59.39. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $49.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $47.40.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The auto manufacturer reported $2.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.49 by $0.47. The business had revenue of $48.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $44.67 billion. General Motors had a return on equity of 16.30% and a net margin of 6.06%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.28 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that General Motors will post 10.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Motors Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. General Motors’s payout ratio is 5.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on GM. StockNews.com downgraded General Motors from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of General Motors from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Nomura cut General Motors from a “neutral” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $34.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, August 5th. DZ Bank lowered General Motors from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $49.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on General Motors from $53.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.92.

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.