Beech Hill Advisors Inc. Sells 3,600 Shares of General Motors (NYSE:GM)

Beech Hill Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in shares of General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) by 24.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,150 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock after selling 3,600 shares during the period. Beech Hill Advisors Inc.’s holdings in General Motors were worth $594,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Rathbones Group PLC raised its position in General Motors by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 5,858 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $272,000 after buying an additional 380 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP raised its holdings in shares of General Motors by 128.6% in the second quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 63,241 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $2,938,000 after purchasing an additional 35,579 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI bought a new position in shares of General Motors during the second quarter valued at about $231,000. Lumbard & Kellner LLC purchased a new position in General Motors during the second quarter worth about $230,000. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its position in General Motors by 14.6% in the 2nd quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 134,537 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $6,251,000 after purchasing an additional 17,159 shares in the last quarter. 92.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Motors Price Performance

NYSE GM traded up $0.08 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $51.78. The company had a trading volume of 409,182 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,597,646. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a current ratio of 1.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.52, a PEG ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 1.42. General Motors has a 52 week low of $34.32 and a 52 week high of $61.24. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $53.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $49.56.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The auto manufacturer reported $2.96 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.49 by $0.47. General Motors had a net margin of 6.06% and a return on equity of 16.30%. The company had revenue of $48.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.67 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.28 earnings per share. General Motors’s revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that General Motors will post 10.34 earnings per share for the current year.

General Motors Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 19th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th were given a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. General Motors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.12%.

Insider Activity at General Motors

In other news, EVP Rory Harvey sold 9,307 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.01, for a total transaction of $502,671.07. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,513 shares in the company, valued at approximately $459,787.13. This trade represents a 52.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Mary T. Barra sold 506,824 shares of General Motors stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $53.33, for a total transaction 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 $37,040,244.84. This represents a 42.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,030,475 shares of company stock valued at $56,509,286. Company insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on GM. HSBC downgraded General Motors from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $58.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on General Motors from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Mizuho raised their target price on General Motors from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of General Motors from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of General Motors from $38.00 to $35.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, December 16th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $59.58.

General Motors 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.