First Financial Bank Trust Division Lowers Stake in General Motors (NYSE:GM)

First Financial Bank Trust Division lessened its holdings in shares of General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 113,619 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock after selling 1,994 shares during the quarter. First Financial Bank Trust Division’s holdings in General Motors were worth $6,052,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GM. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of General Motors by 0.5% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 23,620,533 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $1,055,395,000 after acquiring an additional 106,878 shares in the last quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of General Motors by 6.1% during the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 17,278,448 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $774,766,000 after purchasing an additional 989,750 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of General Motors by 9.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 12,922,021 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $600,291,000 after buying an additional 1,091,137 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of General Motors by 3.9% in the third quarter. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,113,063 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $498,310,000 after buying an additional 421,989 shares during the period. Finally, LSV Asset Management grew 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.67% of the company’s stock.

General Motors Price Performance

General Motors stock traded down $1.90 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $51.37. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 10,082,427 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,509,685. General Motors has a 12 month low of $34.32 and a 12 month high of $61.24. 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 capitalization of $56.49 billion, a PE ratio of 5.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.42. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $53.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $49.28.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The auto manufacturer reported $2.96 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $48.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.67 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.28 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that General Motors will post 10.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Motors Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 6th were paid a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. General Motors’s dividend payout ratio is presently 5.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GM has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on shares of General Motors from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of General Motors from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. DZ Bank cut shares of 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. Barclays raised their price objective 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, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $53.00 price objective on shares of General Motors in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $58.70.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other General Motors 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 694,548 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,040,244.84. The trade was a 42.19 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Rory Harvey sold 9,307 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.01, for a total value of $502,671.07. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,513 shares in the company, valued at $459,787.13. This represents a 52.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,030,475 shares of company stock worth $56,509,286 in the last three months. 0.72% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.