Marshall Wace LLP Takes Position in General Motors (NYSE:GM)

Marshall Wace LLP purchased a new stake in shares of General Motors (NYSE:GM - Free Report) TSE: GMM.U in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 600,000 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock, valued at approximately $31,962,000. Marshall Wace LLP owned 0.06% of General Motors at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of GM. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Motors in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in General Motors in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in General Motors during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of General Motors by 9,960.0% during the fourth quarter. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. now owns 503 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 498 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. boosted its stake in shares of General Motors by 551.9% in the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 502 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 425 shares in the last quarter. 92.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on General Motors from $64.00 to $53.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Barclays downgraded shares of General Motors from an "overweight" rating to a "negative" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of General Motors in a research report on Wednesday. They set a "buy" rating and a $62.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "underweight" rating on shares of General Motors in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen assumed coverage on shares of General Motors in a research report on Friday, March 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $105.00 price target on the stock. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, General Motors has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $54.83.

General Motors Stock Performance

NYSE:GM traded up $0.94 on Thursday, reaching $46.78. 2,904,913 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,352,667. The firm has a market cap of $46.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.61, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.27. 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $46.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.29. General Motors has a 52 week low of $38.96 and a 52 week high of $61.24.

General Motors (NYSE:GM - Get Free Report) TSE: GMM.U last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The auto manufacturer reported $1.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.17. General Motors had a return on equity of 15.29% and a net margin of 3.21%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that General Motors will post 11.44 earnings per share for the current year.

General Motors Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 payout ratio is currently 7.80%.

General Motors declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to buyback $6.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the auto manufacturer to repurchase up to 12.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are often an indication that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Transactions at General Motors

In other news, Director Alfred F. Kelly, Jr. bought 12,000 shares of General Motors stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $50.66 per share, with a total value of $607,920.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 13,714 shares in the company, valued at $694,751.24. The trade was a 700.12 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.72% of the company's stock.

General Motors 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.