Axa S.A. Raises Stake in General Motors (NYSE:GM)

AXA S.A. increased its holdings in General Motors (NYSE:GM - Free Report) TSE: GMM.U by 18.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 39,452 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock after acquiring an additional 6,029 shares during the period. AXA S.A.'s holdings in General Motors were worth $2,102,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. World Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of General Motors during the third quarter valued at about $237,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of General Motors by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,268,096 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock worth $56,861,000 after buying an additional 13,206 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank boosted its stake in shares of General Motors by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 3,876 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock worth $206,000 after buying an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its holdings in shares of General Motors by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 238,415 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock valued at $12,700,000 after acquiring an additional 9,461 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital increased its position in shares of General Motors by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 9,968 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock valued at $497,000 after acquiring an additional 1,082 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 92.67% of the company's stock.

General Motors Stock Performance

Shares of General Motors stock traded up $0.16 during trading on Friday, hitting $47.51. 8,581,366 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,447,485. General Motors has a 1 year low of $38.96 and a 1 year high of $61.24. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $45.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.73, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.36.

General Motors (NYSE:GM - Get Free Report) TSE: GMM.U last released its quarterly earnings data 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. General Motors had a net margin of 3.21% and a return on equity of 15.29%. The firm had revenue of $44.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $42.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $2.62 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that General Motors will post 11.44 EPS for the current year.

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 paid a dividend of $0.15 per share. This is an increase from General Motors's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, June 6th. General Motors's payout ratio is currently 8.65%.

General Motors announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to buyback $6.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the auto manufacturer to reacquire up to 12.5% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GM. TD Cowen began coverage on General Motors in a research report on Friday, March 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $105.00 target price for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of General Motors from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $43.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, April 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of General Motors from $64.00 to $53.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 27th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on General Motors from $55.00 to $53.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on General Motors in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $62.00 target price for the company. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $54.28.

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.