Farringdon Capital Ltd. Makes New Investment in General Motors (NYSE:GM)

Farringdon Capital Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 5,863 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock, valued at approximately $312,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GM. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in General Motors by 19.7% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 9,164 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $488,000 after purchasing an additional 1,510 shares in the last quarter. SYM FINANCIAL Corp acquired a new position in shares of General Motors during the 4th quarter valued at $474,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its stake in General Motors by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 463,848 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $25,178,000 after purchasing an additional 39,474 shares in the last quarter. Avantra Family Wealth Inc. bought a new position in shares of General Motors during the 4th quarter worth about $1,044,000. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in General Motors by 10.9% in the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 202,054 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $10,763,000 after buying an additional 19,924 shares in the last quarter. 92.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 price 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 approximately $694,751.24. The trade was a 700.12 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

General Motors Stock Performance

Shares of GM opened at $44.55 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $44.32 billion, a PE ratio of 7.24, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.27. General Motors has a 1 year low of $38.96 and a 1 year high of $61.24. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $47.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $50.29.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last issued 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 net margin of 3.21% and a return on equity of 15.29%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that General Motors will post 11.44 EPS for the current year.

General Motors announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to buyback $6.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the auto manufacturer to buy up to 12.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

General Motors Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.08%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. General Motors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.80%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on GM shares. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded General Motors from a “market perform” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $50.00 to $35.00 in a report on Monday, April 7th. StockNews.com cut shares of General Motors from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Mizuho cut their price target on General Motors from $63.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut General Motors from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $43.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on General Motors from $64.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.72.

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.