Investors Buy Large Volume of General Motors Call Options (NYSE:GM)

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders purchased 57,363 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 17% compared to the typical daily volume of 48,922 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GM has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of General Motors in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of General Motors in a report on Monday, February 3rd. HSBC cut shares of General Motors from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $58.00 target price for the company. in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of General Motors from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of General Motors from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $59.71.

Insider Activity

In other General Motors news, Director Alfred F. Kelly, Jr. bought 12,000 shares of General Motors stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 30th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $50.66 per share, with a total value of $607,920.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 13,714 shares in the company, valued at approximately $694,751.24. This trade represents a 700.12 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in General Motors in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in General Motors in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in General Motors in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Truvestments Capital LLC purchased a new stake in General Motors during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Compass Planning Associates Inc bought a new position in General Motors during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. 92.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

General Motors Trading Up 3.5 %

GM stock traded up $1.66 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $48.37. The stock had a trading volume of 12,269,326 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,442,687. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. General Motors has a twelve month low of $38.94 and a twelve month high of $61.24. The firm has a market cap of $48.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.86, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.40. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $50.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $50.34.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The auto manufacturer reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.17. General Motors had a return on equity of 15.29% and a net margin of 3.21%. As a group, research analysts expect that General Motors will post 11.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Motors Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 7th 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 0.99%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. General Motors’s payout ratio is presently 7.80%.

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.