HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Decreases Holdings in General Motors (NYSE:GM)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC lowered its position in shares of General Motors (NYSE:GM - Free Report) TSE: GMM.U by 29.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 18,129 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock after selling 7,590 shares during the quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC's holdings in General Motors were worth $966,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of GM. Norges Bank purchased a new position in General Motors in the 4th quarter worth approximately $592,321,000. Amundi increased its holdings in General Motors by 75.5% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 4,914,256 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock valued at $250,627,000 after acquiring an additional 2,113,973 shares during the last quarter. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC lifted its stake in General Motors by 39.8% in the 4th quarter. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC now owns 7,397,404 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock worth $394,060,000 after purchasing an additional 2,104,528 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of General Motors during the 4th quarter valued at about $108,366,000. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in shares of General Motors by 158.8% during the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,171,587 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock valued at $97,374,000 after purchasing an additional 1,332,450 shares in the last quarter. 92.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

General Motors Trading Down 3.7 %

Shares of GM traded down $1.68 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $44.22. 26,713,341 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,413,857. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $48.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $50.57. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. The firm has a market cap of $44.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.19, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.27. General Motors has a 12-month low of $38.96 and a 12-month high of $61.24.

General Motors (NYSE:GM - Get Free Report) TSE: GMM.U last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The auto manufacturer reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that General Motors will post 11.44 earnings per share for the current year.

General Motors Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.09%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. General Motors's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.80%.

General Motors declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the auto manufacturer to reacquire up to 12.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company's leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on GM shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded General Motors from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $56.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $73.00 target price on General Motors in a research report on Saturday, March 1st. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of General Motors from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of General Motors from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of General Motors from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $62.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Motors news, Director Alfred F. Kelly, Jr. purchased 12,000 shares of General Motors stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 30th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $50.66 per share, for a total transaction of $607,920.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 13,714 shares in the company, valued at $694,751.24. This trade represents a 700.12 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

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.