Investors Buy High Volume of General Motors Put Options (NYSE:GM)

General Motors (NYSE:GM - Get Free Report) TSE: GMM.U was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors purchased 66,908 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 32% compared to the typical volume of 50,611 put options.

General Motors Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:GM traded down $0.55 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $46.65. 18,815,180 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,329,089. 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 50 day moving average price of $48.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $50.56. The company has a market cap of $46.42 billion, a PE ratio of 7.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.42. 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 posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The auto manufacturer reported $1.92 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that General Motors will post 11.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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General Motors Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were paid a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. General Motors's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.80%.

General Motors declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 26th that authorizes the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the auto manufacturer to purchase up to 12.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Mizuho lifted their price objective on General Motors from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of General Motors from an "underweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $73.00 price objective on shares of General Motors in a research report on Saturday, March 1st. StockNews.com lowered shares of General Motors from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upgraded General Motors from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $56.00 to $60.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $62.11.

Insider Activity at General Motors

In related news, Director Alfred F. Kelly, Jr. bought 12,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $50.66 per share, with a total value of $607,920.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 13,714 shares of the company's stock, valued at $694,751.24. This represents a 700.12 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.72% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Motors

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in General Motors during the fourth quarter worth about $592,321,000. Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of General Motors by 75.5% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 4,914,256 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock worth $250,627,000 after purchasing an additional 2,113,973 shares in the last quarter. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC boosted its stake in General Motors by 39.8% in the fourth quarter. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC now owns 7,397,404 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock worth $394,060,000 after buying 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 $108,366,000. Finally, Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec grew its stake in shares of General Motors by 972.6% during the third quarter. Caisse DE Depot ET Placement DU Quebec now owns 2,103,036 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock valued at $94,300,000 after buying an additional 1,906,964 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.67% 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.