General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) Shares Sold by Donald Smith & CO. Inc.

Key Points

• Donald Smith & CO. Inc. has reduced its stake in General Motors by 0.7%, holding approximately 1.9% of the company's shares, valued at about $77.7 million.
• Analysts' ratings vary for GM, with a consensus price target of $57.53 and a mix of buy, hold, and sell ratings from several brokerages.
• General Motors has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share, with a current yield of 1.1%, underscoring a solid financial foundation despite a slight decline in year-over-year revenue.

Donald Smith & CO. Inc. reduced its stake in shares of General Motors Company (NYSE:GM - Free Report) TSE: GMM.U by 0.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,653,055 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock after selling 11,987 shares during the quarter. General Motors accounts for approximately 1.9% of Donald Smith & CO. Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. owned 0.17% of General Motors worth $77,743,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of General Motors by 6.9% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 99,341,336 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock valued at $4,672,023,000 after purchasing an additional 6,395,375 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in General Motors during the first quarter worth approximately $175,889,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in General Motors by 305.6% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,858,959 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock worth $134,457,000 after acquiring an additional 2,154,037 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in General Motors during the first quarter worth approximately $86,900,000. Finally, AustralianSuper Pty Ltd boosted its position in General Motors by 38.9% during the first quarter. AustralianSuper Pty Ltd now owns 6,111,582 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock worth $287,428,000 after acquiring an additional 1,712,033 shares during the last quarter. 92.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on GM shares. Industrial Alliance Securities set a $70.00 target price on shares of General Motors in a research report on Friday, July 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating on shares of General Motors in a research report on Thursday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of General Motors from $56.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, July 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of General Motors from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of General Motors in a research note on Friday, July 11th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $57.53.

General Motors Stock Up 1.5%

GM traded up $0.83 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $56.41. 4,563,550 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 11,926,266. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $51.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $48.86. The company has a market cap of $53.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.95, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.36. General Motors Company has a fifty-two week low of $41.60 and a fifty-two week high of $61.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

General Motors (NYSE:GM - Get Free Report) TSE: GMM.U last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The auto manufacturer reported $2.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.52 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $47.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $45.87 billion. General Motors had a net margin of 2.54% and a return on equity of 12.98%. The business's revenue was down 1.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.06 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that General Motors Company will post 11.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Motors Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 5th will be issued a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 5th. General Motors's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.52%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Motors news, EVP Rory Harvey sold 23,977 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.01, for a total transaction of $1,271,020.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 8,513 shares of the company's stock, valued at $451,274.13. This trade represents a 73.80% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.54% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.