Rakuten Securities Inc. Acquires 524 Shares of General Motors (NYSE:GM)

Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) by 195.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 792 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock after purchasing an additional 524 shares during the period. Rakuten Securities Inc.’s holdings in General Motors were worth $42,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GM. Great Lakes Advisors LLC raised its stake in General Motors by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC now owns 1,636,409 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $87,172,000 after acquiring an additional 46,537 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in General Motors by 45.3% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 8,748 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $466,000 after acquiring an additional 2,727 shares during the period. PFG Advisors bought a new stake in General Motors in the 4th quarter valued at about $210,000. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its stake in General Motors by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 3,044,889 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $162,201,000 after acquiring an additional 18,449 shares during the period. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its stake in General Motors by 18.3% in the 4th quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 6,028 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $321,000 after acquiring an additional 934 shares during the period. 92.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GM has been the topic of a number of research reports. TD Cowen initiated coverage on General Motors in a research note on Friday, March 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $105.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho lifted their target price on General Motors from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of General Motors in a report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com lowered General Motors from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res lowered General Motors from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $62.89.

Insider Activity at General Motors

In other news, Director Alfred F. Kelly, Jr. purchased 12,000 shares of General Motors stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were bought 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 directly owns 13,714 shares in the company, valued at approximately $694,751.24. This trade represents a 700.12 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.72% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

General Motors Price Performance

Shares of General Motors stock opened at $47.92 on Thursday. 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 company has a market cap of $47.68 billion, a PE ratio of 7.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.42. The business has a 50 day moving average of $49.38 and a 200 day moving average of $50.49. General Motors has a 52 week low of $38.94 and a 52 week high of $61.24.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The auto manufacturer reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that General Motors will post 11.44 earnings per share for the current year.

General Motors Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. General Motors’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.80%.

General Motors announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Wednesday, February 26th that permits the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the auto manufacturer to purchase up to 12.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.