John G Ullman & Associates Inc. Makes New $252,000 Investment in General Motors (NYSE:GM)

John G Ullman & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 5,550 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock, valued at approximately $252,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado lifted its position in shares of General Motors by 1,213.0% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 2,203,771 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $79,159,000 after purchasing an additional 2,035,925 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB lifted its holdings in General Motors by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 475,061 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $17,064,000 after buying an additional 74,194 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in General Motors by 59.3% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 86,888 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $3,121,000 after buying an additional 32,331 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its holdings in General Motors by 317.6% in the fourth quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 67,807 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $2,436,000 after buying an additional 51,571 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in General Motors by 361.1% in the fourth 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. 92.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

General Motors Stock Up 1.5 %

General Motors stock traded up $0.71 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $48.64. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,480,375 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,726,105. The company has a market capitalization of $55.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.49 and a beta of 1.43. General Motors has a 12 month low of $26.30 and a 12 month high of $49.35. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $45.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.22, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.16.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The auto manufacturer reported $2.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.02 by $0.60. The firm had revenue of $43.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $41.09 billion. General Motors had a net margin of 6.13% and a return on equity of 14.40%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $2.21 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that General Motors will post 9.43 earnings per share for the current year.

General Motors Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 20th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 7th were paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 7th. General Motors’s dividend payout ratio is currently 5.87%.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GM. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of General Motors from $43.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wedbush upped their target price on shares of General Motors from $45.00 to $55.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of General Motors from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of General Motors from $54.00 to $56.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of General Motors from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.96.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Motors

In other General Motors news, President Mark L. Reuss sold 150,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.44, for a total value of $6,516,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 176,907 shares in the company, valued at $7,684,840.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, President Mark L. Reuss sold 150,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.44, for a total transaction of $6,516,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 176,907 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,684,840.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mary T. Barra sold 326,305 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.33, for a total transaction of $15,770,320.65. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 898,648 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $43,431,657.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,152,621 shares of company stock worth $51,818,111 over the last quarter. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.