Prudential Financial Inc. Sells 77,736 Shares of General Motors (NYSE:GM)

Prudential Financial Inc. reduced its holdings in General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,919,753 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock after selling 77,736 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in General Motors were worth $155,535,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in General Motors by 19.7% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 9,164 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $488,000 after acquiring an additional 1,510 shares during the period. SYM FINANCIAL Corp bought a new stake in shares of General Motors during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $474,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of 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 General Motors in the fourth quarter worth $1,044,000. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its stake in General Motors by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 202,054 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $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 and hedge funds.

General Motors Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of GM opened at $49.77 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $49.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.49. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $49.53 billion, a PE ratio of 8.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.42. General Motors has a 12-month low of $38.96 and a 12-month high of $61.24.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.17. General Motors had a net margin of 3.21% and a return on equity of 15.29%. As a group, research analysts predict 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 was paid on Thursday, March 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 7th were given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 7th. General Motors’s payout ratio is 7.80%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of General Motors from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised General Motors from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $56.00 to $60.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Mizuho raised their target price on General Motors from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. HSBC cut General Motors from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $58.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of General Motors from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $63.06.

Insider Activity

In other General Motors news, Director Alfred F. Kelly, Jr. bought 12,000 shares of General Motors stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $50.66 per share, for a total transaction of $607,920.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 13,714 shares in the company, valued at approximately $694,751.24. The trade was a 700.12 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.