General Motors (NYSE:GM) Upgraded to “Equal Weight” at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $54.00 price objective on the auto manufacturer’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $46.00.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. DZ Bank downgraded General Motors from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $49.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Friday, October 11th. Mizuho lifted their price target on General Motors from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on General Motors from $53.00 to $61.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on General Motors from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on General Motors in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $58.89.

General Motors Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GM opened at $52.76 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $58.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 5.62, a PEG ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 1.42. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $52.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.47. General Motors has a 52-week low of $32.83 and a 52-week high of $61.24.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The auto manufacturer reported $2.96 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.49 by $0.47. General Motors had a return on equity of 16.30% and a net margin of 6.06%. The business had revenue of $48.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.67 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.28 earnings per share. General Motors’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that General Motors will post 10.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Motors Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, December 19th. Investors of record on Friday, December 6th will be given a dividend of $0.12 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 6th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.91%. General Motors’s dividend payout ratio is presently 5.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Rory Harvey sold 8,919 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.01, for a total transaction of $535,229.19. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 8,513 shares in the company, valued at $510,865.13. The trade was a 51.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, President Mark L. Reuss sold 122,283 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.16, for a total value of $6,745,130.28. Following the transaction, the president now owns 126,907 shares in the company, valued at $7,000,190.12. This represents a 49.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,030,475 shares of company stock valued at $56,509,286. Insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Motors

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in General Motors during the second quarter valued at about $25,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Motors in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Wellington Shields Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Motors in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Truvestments Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Motors in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Motors in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $33,000. 92.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.