General Motors (NYSE:GM) Shares Purchased by Lazard Asset Management LLC

Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of General Motors (NYSE:GM - Free Report) TSE: GMM.U by 11.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 66,239 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock after purchasing an additional 7,046 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC's holdings in General Motors were worth $3,527,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in General Motors by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 29,273,136 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock valued at $1,559,380,000 after acquiring an additional 1,170,816 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of General Motors by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 23,796,969 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock worth $1,264,567,000 after purchasing an additional 176,436 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of General Motors by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 14,066,883 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock worth $749,382,000 after purchasing an additional 228,408 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in General Motors in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $592,321,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in General Motors by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,930,178 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock valued at $582,251,000 after buying an additional 822,454 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.67% of the company's stock.

General Motors Stock Performance

NYSE:GM opened at $50.36 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $50.02. 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 firm has a market cap of $48.42 billion, a PE ratio of 8.19, a P/E/G ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.36. General Motors has a 1-year low of $38.96 and a 1-year high of $61.24.

General Motors (NYSE:GM - Get Free Report) TSE: GMM.U last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 29th. The auto manufacturer reported $2.78 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 the consensus estimate of $42.64 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.62 earnings per share. General Motors's revenue was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that General Motors will post 11.44 EPS for the current year.

General Motors announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Wednesday, February 26th that allows the company to buyback $6.00 billion in shares. This buyback authorization allows the auto manufacturer to purchase up to 12.5% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

General Motors Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.19%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. General Motors's payout ratio is currently 8.65%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of General Motors from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of General Motors in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. They set a "buy" rating and a $62.00 price objective on the stock. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of General Motors from $53.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of General Motors from $51.00 to $50.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "underweight" rating on shares of General Motors in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $54.56.

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.

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