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

Beech Hill Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) by 24.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund 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 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC raised its position in General Motors by 15.9% in the 3rd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 11,382 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $510,000 after purchasing an additional 1,559 shares during the period. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. grew its stake in shares of General Motors by 12.1% during the third quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 1,629,573 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $73,070,000 after buying an additional 175,860 shares during the last quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. increased its holdings in shares of General Motors by 121.5% in the third quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 47,169 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $2,115,000 after buying an additional 25,869 shares during the period. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC boosted its holdings in General Motors by 115.1% during the 3rd quarter. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC now owns 178,443 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $8,001,000 after acquiring an additional 95,484 shares during the period. Finally, Olstein Capital Management L.P. grew its position in General Motors by 14.9% during the 3rd quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 162,000 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $7,264,000 after acquiring an additional 21,000 shares during the last quarter. 92.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on GM. DZ Bank downgraded General Motors from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $49.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, October 11th. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of General Motors from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 9th. HSBC cut shares of General Motors from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $58.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of General Motors from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on General Motors from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $59.58.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Motors

In other General Motors news, 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 transaction of $502,671.07. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 8,513 shares in the company, valued at approximately $459,787.13. This represents a 52.23 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mary T. Barra sold 506,824 shares of General Motors stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,030,475 shares of company stock worth $56,509,286. Insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

General Motors Stock Up 0.2 %

General Motors stock traded up $0.08 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $51.78. The company had a trading volume of 409,182 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,597,646. General Motors has a 12 month low of $34.32 and a 12 month high of $61.24. The company has a market capitalization of $56.94 billion, a PE ratio of 5.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.36 and a beta of 1.42. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $53.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $49.56. The company has a current ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The auto manufacturer reported $2.96 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.49 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $48.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.67 billion. General Motors had a net margin of 6.06% and a return on equity of 16.30%. General Motors’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.28 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that General Motors will post 10.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Motors Announces Dividend

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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. General Motors’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5.12%.

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.