New York State Common Retirement Fund Reduces Holdings in General Motors (NYSE:GM)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lessened its position in shares of General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,486,201 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock after selling 20,000 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.15% of General Motors worth $79,170,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in General Motors during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in General Motors during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in General Motors during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in General Motors during the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. purchased a new stake in General Motors during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GM. Mizuho increased their price objective on General Motors from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on General Motors from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley upgraded General Motors from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on General Motors from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on General Motors from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Motors presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $59.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Motors news, 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 transaction of $535,229.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,513 shares in the company, valued at approximately $510,865.13. The trade was a 51.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Alfred F. Kelly, Jr. acquired 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were bought at an average price of $50.66 per share, with a total value 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. The trade was a 700.12 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

General Motors Price Performance

GM opened at $47.77 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $50.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $50.13. 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 firm has a market cap of $47.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.77, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.40.

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

General Motors Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. General Motors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.80%.

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.