Strategic Financial Concepts LLC Buys Shares of 14,698 General Motors (NYSE:GM)

Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 14,698 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock, valued at approximately $783,000.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in 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 valued at $1,055,395,000 after buying an additional 106,878 shares in 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 valued at $774,766,000 after buying an additional 989,750 shares in the last quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in General Motors by 3.9% in the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,113,063 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $498,310,000 after purchasing an additional 421,989 shares during the period. 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 worth $259,988,000 after purchasing an additional 358,507 shares during the period. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its holdings in General Motors by 35.8% in the fourth 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 owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

General Motors Stock Performance

GM opened at $47.77 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $47.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.98. General Motors has a 1-year low of $38.13 and a 1-year high of $61.24. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $50.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.13.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The auto manufacturer reported $1.92 earnings per share 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%. Research analysts predict that General Motors will post 11.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Motors Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at General Motors

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on GM shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of General Motors from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $56.00 to $60.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of General Motors from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Morgan Stanley upgraded General Motors from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on General Motors from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on General Motors from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Motors has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $59.71.

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.