California State Teachers Retirement System Lowers Stock Position in General Motors (NYSE:GM)

California State Teachers Retirement System lowered its holdings in shares of General Motors (NYSE:GM - Free Report) TSE: GMM.U by 7.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,720,276 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock after selling 137,477 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.17% of General Motors worth $91,639,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in GM. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of General Motors by 19.7% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 9,164 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock valued at $488,000 after buying an additional 1,510 shares during the period. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new stake in General Motors in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,404,000. SYM FINANCIAL Corp bought a new stake in shares of General Motors during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $474,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of General Motors by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 463,848 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock worth $25,178,000 after purchasing an additional 39,474 shares during the period. Finally, Avantra Family Wealth Inc. bought a new position in shares of General Motors in the 4th quarter worth $1,044,000. 92.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

General Motors Stock Performance

GM traded down $0.21 on Thursday, hitting $45.03. The company's stock had a trading volume of 15,872,960 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,419,013. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $46.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $50.27. 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 12 month low of $38.96 and a 12 month high of $61.24. The firm has a market cap of $43.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.27.

General Motors (NYSE:GM - Get Free Report) TSE: GMM.U last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The auto manufacturer reported $2.78 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.63 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $44.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $42.64 billion. General Motors had a return on equity of 15.29% and a net margin of 3.21%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.62 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that General Motors will post 11.44 EPS for the current year.

General Motors announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to buyback $6.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the auto manufacturer to buy up to 12.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are usually a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

General Motors Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be issued a $0.15 dividend. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.33%. This is an increase from General Motors's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. General Motors's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.80%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on GM shares. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of General Motors from $73.00 to $63.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on General Motors from $63.00 to $55.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on General Motors in a report on Friday, March 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $105.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com cut General Motors from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Finally, UBS Group reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $51.00 price target (down from $64.00) on shares of General Motors in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $54.83.

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.