Morgan Stanley Downgrades General Motors (NYSE:GM) to Underweight

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) was downgraded by analysts at Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have a $42.00 price target on the auto manufacturer’s stock, down from their prior price target of $47.00. Morgan Stanley’s target price points to a potential downside of 8.30% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Nomura downgraded General Motors from a “neutral” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $34.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, August 5th. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on shares of General Motors in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $53.00 target price on shares of General Motors in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. UBS Group raised their price target on General Motors from $61.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Nomura Securities upgraded General Motors to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $54.92.

General Motors Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of General Motors stock opened at $45.80 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $46.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $45.42. The stock has a market cap of $51.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.62, a PEG ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 1.43. General Motors has a 12-month low of $26.30 and a 12-month high of $50.50.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The auto manufacturer reported $3.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.67 by $0.39. General Motors had a return on equity of 15.77% and a net margin of 6.22%. The company had revenue of $47.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $45.13 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.91 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that General Motors will post 9.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Motors announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Tuesday, June 11th that authorizes the company to buyback $6.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the auto manufacturer to repurchase up to 10.8% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Rory Harvey sold 2,302 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.31, for a total value of $108,907.62. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $489,942.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Rory Harvey sold 2,302 shares of General Motors stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.31, for a total transaction of $108,907.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,356 shares in the company, valued at approximately $489,942.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Paul A. Jacobson bought 25,000 shares of General Motors stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 26th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $44.11 per share, for a total transaction of $1,102,750.00. Following the purchase, the chief financial officer now owns 261,872 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,551,173.92. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.72% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of General Motors

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital World Investors grew its stake in General Motors by 14.6% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 48,767,573 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $2,211,609,000 after acquiring an additional 6,201,777 shares during the period. Putnam Investments LLC grew its position in shares of General Motors by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 20,237,820 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $726,942,000 after purchasing an additional 2,905,689 shares during the period. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC increased its stake in General Motors by 21.9% in the fourth quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 18,097,486 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $650,062,000 after purchasing an additional 3,247,050 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in General Motors by 1.1% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,951,561 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $601,730,000 after buying an additional 135,717 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in General Motors by 9.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 12,922,021 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $600,291,000 after buying an additional 1,091,137 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.67% of the company’s stock.

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.