General Motors (NYSE:GM) Short Interest Update

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 32,760,000 shares, a growth of 6.8% from the September 30th total of 30,670,000 shares. Currently, 3.0% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 13,670,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.4 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Rory Harvey sold 2,302 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.31, for a total value of $108,907.62. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $489,942.36. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Rory Harvey sold 2,302 shares of the 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,356 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $489,942.36. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Mary T. Barra sold 506,824 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.33, for a total value of $27,028,923.92. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 694,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,040,244.84. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 531,228 shares of company stock valued at $28,267,714. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of General Motors

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in General Motors in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of General Motors during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of General Motors during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Motors by 56.1% during the 2nd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 626 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Montag A & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of General Motors during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. 92.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GM has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on General Motors from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays upped their price target on General Motors from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley downgraded General Motors from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $47.00 to $42.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of General Motors in a research note on Thursday, September 5th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, DZ Bank cut shares of General Motors from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $49.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, October 11th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.92.

General Motors Stock Performance

Shares of GM traded up $0.48 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $51.24. 7,962,817 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,017,058. General Motors has a twelve month low of $26.30 and a twelve month high of $54.29. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. The company has a market cap of $56.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.41, a PEG ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.42. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $48.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.40.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The auto manufacturer reported $2.96 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.49 by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $48.76 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.67 billion. General Motors had a return on equity of 16.30% and a net margin of 6.06%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.28 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that General Motors will post 10.34 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, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. General Motors’s payout ratio is 5.12%.

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.