Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in General Motors (NYSE:GM)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC lessened its position in General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,924 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock after selling 315 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in General Motors were worth $536,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in General Motors by 361.1% in the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 119,714 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $4,300,000 after buying an additional 93,754 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its holdings in General Motors by 10.5% in the third quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 147,383 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $4,859,000 after purchasing an additional 14,002 shares during the period. Foundry Partners LLC grew its stake in General Motors by 15.0% during the 3rd quarter. Foundry Partners LLC now owns 394,047 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $12,992,000 after purchasing an additional 51,336 shares in the last quarter. AM Squared Ltd increased its holdings in General Motors by 195.0% during the 4th quarter. AM Squared Ltd now owns 41,300 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $1,483,000 after purchasing an additional 27,300 shares during the period. Finally, Strs Ohio raised its position in General Motors by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 1,532,997 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $55,065,000 after purchasing an additional 109,760 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.67% of the company’s stock.

General Motors Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of General Motors stock opened at $43.25 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $41.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.96. General Motors has a 1 year low of $26.30 and a 1 year high of $46.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.08. The company has a market capitalization of $49.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.92, a PEG ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 1.51.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The auto manufacturer reported $1.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.08. General Motors had a return on equity of 14.34% and a net margin of 5.89%. The firm had revenue of $42.98 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.81 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $2.12 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .3% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that General Motors will post 9.12 earnings per share for the current year.

General Motors Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 20th. Investors of record on Friday, June 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.11%. General Motors’s dividend payout ratio is presently 6.57%.

Insider Activity at General Motors

In other General Motors news, EVP Julian G. Blissett sold 13,826 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.24, for a total transaction of $528,706.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 87,567 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,348,562.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other General Motors news, EVP Julian G. Blissett sold 13,826 shares of General Motors stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.24, for a total value of $528,706.24. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 87,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,348,562.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Gerald Johnson sold 15,190 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.03, for a total value of $608,055.70. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 98,628 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,948,078.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 86,248 shares of company stock worth $3,614,078 in the last three months. Insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GM has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho boosted their price objective on General Motors from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 25th. Wedbush increased their price objective on shares of General Motors from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 31st. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of General Motors from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of General Motors from $52.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded General Motors from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $51.57.

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.