National Bank of Canada FI Increases Position in General Motors (NYSE:GM)

National Bank of Canada FI raised its stake in shares of General Motors (NYSE:GM - Free Report) TSE: GMM.U by 54.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,352,523 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock after purchasing an additional 1,180,936 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI owned 0.34% of General Motors worth $178,593,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GM. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of General Motors by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 29,273,136 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock worth $1,559,380,000 after purchasing an additional 1,170,816 shares in the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC boosted its position in General Motors by 84.7% during the fourth quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 175,867 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock worth $9,368,000 after acquiring an additional 80,663 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in General Motors by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,495,539 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock valued at $79,667,000 after acquiring an additional 22,233 shares in the last quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. acquired a new position in General Motors during the fourth quarter worth $4,609,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of General Motors by 633.8% during the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 94,810 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock worth $5,051,000 after acquiring an additional 81,890 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.67% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GM has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $73.00 price objective on shares of General Motors in a research report on Saturday, March 1st. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of General Motors from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered 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. StockNews.com downgraded General Motors from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of General Motors in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $62.11.

Insider Activity at General Motors

In other news, Director Alfred F. Kelly, Jr. purchased 12,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $50.66 per share, for a total transaction of $607,920.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 13,714 shares of the company's stock, valued at $694,751.24. This represents a 700.12 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.72% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

General Motors Stock Down 3.7 %

Shares of NYSE:GM traded down $1.68 on Friday, hitting $44.22. 26,713,341 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,413,857. General Motors has a 1-year low of $38.96 and a 1-year high of $61.24. The company has a market capitalization of $44.00 billion, a PE ratio of 7.19, 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 quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.13. The firm's 50-day moving average is $48.22 and its 200 day moving average is $50.57.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. Sell-side analysts predict that General Motors will post 11.44 EPS for the current year.

General Motors Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.09%. General Motors's dividend payout ratio is currently 7.80%.

General Motors declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to buyback $6.00 billion in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows 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 management believes its stock is 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.