Principal Securities Inc. Increases Stock Position in General Motors (NYSE:GM)

Principal Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) by 15.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 32,693 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock after buying an additional 4,334 shares during the quarter. Principal Securities Inc.’s holdings in General Motors were worth $1,742,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Motors by 0.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 23,620,533 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $1,055,395,000 after purchasing an additional 106,878 shares during the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its stake in General Motors by 6.1% during the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 17,278,448 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $774,766,000 after purchasing an additional 989,750 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of General Motors by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,113,063 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $498,310,000 after purchasing an additional 421,989 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its holdings in General Motors by 6.6% in the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 5,798,131 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $259,988,000 after acquiring an additional 358,507 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd grew its holdings in shares of General Motors by 35.8% during the 4th quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 4,399,549 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $234,364,000 after purchasing an additional 1,159,958 shares during the period. 92.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

General Motors Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GM opened at $48.14 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $47.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.83, a P/E/G ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $51.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.09. General Motors has a fifty-two week low of $38.13 and a fifty-two week high of $61.24.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 28th. The auto manufacturer reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities analysts expect that General Motors will post 11.28 EPS for the current year.

General Motors Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be issued a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.00%. General Motors’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.80%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on GM shares. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of General Motors from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on General Motors from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of General Motors from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Hsbc Global Res downgraded General Motors from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of General Motors from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Motors currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $59.71.

Insider Transactions at General Motors

In other news, EVP Rory Harvey sold 8,919 shares of General Motors stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.01, for a total value of $535,229.19. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,513 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $510,865.13. This trade represents a 51.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Alfred F. Kelly, Jr. purchased 12,000 shares of General Motors stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $50.66 per share, with a total value of $607,920.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 13,714 shares in the company, valued at $694,751.24. This represents a 700.12 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.72% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.