Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. Raises Holdings in General Motors (NYSE:GM)

Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. increased its position in General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 18,742 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock after acquiring an additional 290 shares during the quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in General Motors were worth $998,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Keystone Investors PTE Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of General Motors during the fourth quarter worth $3,161,000. TIAA Trust National Association lifted its holdings in General Motors by 25.4% during the 4th quarter. TIAA Trust National Association now owns 8,008 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 1,624 shares in the last quarter. Interchange Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in General Motors by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Interchange Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,932 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $369,000 after purchasing an additional 819 shares during the period. Mountain Hill Investment Partners Corp. purchased a new position in General Motors during the 4th quarter valued at about $5,759,000. Finally, LPL Financial LLC increased its position in shares of General Motors by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 640,491 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $34,119,000 after buying an additional 50,031 shares during the period. 92.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other General Motors news, Director Alfred F. Kelly, Jr. bought 12,000 shares of General Motors stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the purchase, the director now owns 13,714 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $694,751.24. This represents a 700.12 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

General Motors Trading Down 3.2 %

NYSE GM opened at $50.93 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $50.68 billion, a PE ratio of 8.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.42. General Motors has a 1-year low of $38.96 and a 1-year high of $61.24. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $49.07 and a 200-day moving average of $50.55. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 forecast that General Motors will post 11.44 EPS for the current year.

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

General Motors Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. General Motors’s payout ratio is 7.80%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of General Motors from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of General Motors from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Cowen began coverage on General Motors in a research report on Thursday, March 6th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. 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. Finally, StockNews.com cut General Motors from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.06.

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.