Lafayette Investments Inc. Sells 1,500 Shares of General Motors (NYSE:GM)

Lafayette Investments Inc. reduced its stake in General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) by 11.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,007 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock after selling 1,500 shares during the quarter. Lafayette Investments Inc.’s holdings in General Motors were worth $431,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in General Motors by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 111,460,756 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $3,674,861,000 after acquiring an additional 1,580,681 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in General Motors by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 56,981,032 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $2,090,060,000 after acquiring an additional 383,957 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in General Motors by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 15,212,672 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $501,562,000 after acquiring an additional 201,080 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in General Motors by 80.4% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 14,687,738 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $538,747,000 after acquiring an additional 6,548,022 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in General Motors in the 4th quarter worth approximately $493,248,000. 92.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

General Motors Price Performance

General Motors stock traded up $0.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $42.55. The stock had a trading volume of 4,398,048 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,231,039. The firm has a market capitalization of $49.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.85, a P/E/G ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.51. The company has a current ratio of 1.08, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $41.57 and its 200 day moving average is $35.73. General Motors has a one year low of $26.30 and a one year high of $46.04.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 30th. The auto manufacturer reported $1.24 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.16 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $42.98 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.81 billion. General Motors had a net margin of 5.89% and a return on equity of 14.34%. General Motors’s quarterly revenue was down .3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $2.12 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that General Motors will post 9.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Motors Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 14th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were issued a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.13%. This is an increase from General Motors’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.09. General Motors’s dividend payout ratio is currently 6.57%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of General Motors from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of General Motors from $44.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of General Motors from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $42.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on shares of General Motors from $86.00 to $88.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of General Motors from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, General Motors has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.57.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other General Motors news, EVP Julian G. Blissett sold 13,826 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.24, for a total transaction of $528,706.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 87,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,348,562.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other General Motors news, CAO Christopher Hatto sold 15,510 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.02, for a total transaction of $620,710.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 21,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $860,710.14. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Julian G. Blissett sold 13,826 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.24, for a total transaction of $528,706.24. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 87,567 shares in the company, valued at $3,348,562.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 86,248 shares of company stock valued at $3,614,078. Company insiders own 0.54% of the company’s stock.

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.