Sanford C. Bernstein Increases General Motors (NYSE:GM) Price Target to $55.00

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) had its price target hoisted by Sanford C. Bernstein from $53.00 to $55.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a market perform rating on the auto manufacturer’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on GM. UBS Group boosted their target price on General Motors from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of General Motors from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of General Motors from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $47.00 to $42.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of General Motors from $33.00 to $38.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and set a $53.00 price objective on shares of General Motors in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Motors currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $56.92.

General Motors Stock Performance

NYSE GM opened at $52.71 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $47.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $46.28. General Motors has a 1 year low of $26.30 and a 1 year high of $54.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.60 and a beta of 1.42. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The auto manufacturer reported $2.96 earnings per share (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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $44.67 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.28 EPS. General Motors’s quarterly revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that General Motors will post 10.05 EPS for the current year.

General Motors Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th will be issued a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 6th. General Motors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other General Motors news, EVP Rory Harvey sold 2,302 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were 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 $489,942.36. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, CEO Mary T. Barra sold 506,824 shares of General Motors stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were 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 approximately $37,040,244.84. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Rory Harvey sold 2,302 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $489,942.36. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 531,228 shares of company stock worth $28,267,714. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of General Motors

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of General Motors by 14.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 48,767,573 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $2,211,609,000 after acquiring an additional 6,201,777 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in General Motors by 1.1% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 12,951,561 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $601,730,000 after purchasing an additional 135,717 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of General Motors by 9.2% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 12,922,021 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $600,291,000 after purchasing an additional 1,091,137 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management increased its stake in shares of General Motors by 2.6% in the second quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 8,847,440 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $411,052,000 after buying an additional 223,260 shares during the period. Finally, ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC raised its holdings in General Motors by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC now owns 6,337,547 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $287,408,000 after buying an additional 492,693 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.67% of the company’s stock.

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.