Ameriprise Financial Inc. Sells 266,971 Shares of General Motors (NYSE:GM)

Ameriprise Financial Inc. lowered its stake in General Motors (NYSE:GM - Free Report) TSE: GMM.U by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,336,789 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock after selling 266,971 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned about 0.54% of General Motors worth $284,306,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Motors in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of General Motors in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Compass Planning Associates Inc acquired a new position in shares of General Motors during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in shares of General Motors by 9,960.0% in the 4th quarter. Duncker Streett & Co. Inc. now owns 503 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 498 shares during the period. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. lifted its stake in General Motors by 551.9% in the 4th quarter. Whittier Trust Co. now owns 502 shares of the auto manufacturer's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 425 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 92.67% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on GM shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of General Motors from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on General Motors from $64.00 to $53.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Cowen initiated coverage on General Motors in a research note on Thursday, March 6th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. BNP Paribas upgraded General Motors to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein set a $36.00 target price on shares of General Motors in a research report on Monday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $54.28.

General Motors Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE GM traded up $0.16 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $47.51. 8,581,366 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,425,363. The firm has a market cap of $45.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 7.73, a PEG ratio of 0.67 and a beta of 1.36. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $46.58 and a 200 day simple moving average of $50.14. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38. 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 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. The company had revenue of $44.02 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $42.64 billion. General Motors had a net margin of 3.21% and a return on equity of 15.29%. General Motors's revenue for the quarter was up 2.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.62 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that General Motors will post 11.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

General Motors Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 19th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 6th will be given a dividend of $0.15 per share. This represents a $0.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.26%. This is a positive change from General Motors's previous quarterly dividend of $0.12. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 6th. General Motors's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.65%.

About General Motors

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.