Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. Trims Holdings in General Motors (NYSE:GM)

Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. reduced its stake in shares of General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) by 63.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,000 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock after selling 1,750 shares during the quarter. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd.’s holdings in General Motors were worth $46,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GM. Savant Capital LLC grew its holdings in General Motors by 34.7% during the 4th quarter. Savant Capital LLC now owns 19,770 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $710,000 after buying an additional 5,090 shares in the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC lifted its position in General Motors by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 6,662 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $239,000 after buying an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. lifted its position in General Motors by 26.4% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 19,654 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $706,000 after buying an additional 4,105 shares during the last quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. lifted its position in General Motors by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 1,273,773 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $45,753,000 after buying an additional 164,318 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its position in General Motors by 1,232.7% in the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 96,077 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $3,451,000 after buying an additional 88,868 shares during the last quarter. 92.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Mary T. Barra sold 326,305 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.33, for a total transaction of $15,770,320.65. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 898,648 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,431,657.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Mary T. Barra sold 326,305 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.33, for a total transaction of $15,770,320.65. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 898,648 shares in the company, valued at approximately $43,431,657.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Paul A. Jacobson bought 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 26th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $44.11 per share, for a total transaction of $1,102,750.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 261,872 shares in the company, valued at $11,551,173.92. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 391,402 shares of company stock worth $18,818,536. Corporate insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

General Motors Stock Performance

NYSE GM traded up $0.31 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $49.78. The stock had a trading volume of 15,736,896 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,115,744. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $46.08 and a 200 day moving average of $44.45. The stock has a market cap of $55.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.50 and a beta of 1.43. General Motors has a 52-week low of $26.30 and a 52-week high of $50.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.18.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The auto manufacturer reported $3.06 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.67 by $0.39. General Motors had a return on equity of 15.77% and a net margin of 6.22%. The firm had revenue of $47.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $45.13 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.91 earnings per share. General Motors’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that General Motors will post 9.94 earnings per share for the current year.

General Motors declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Tuesday, June 11th that permits the company to repurchase $6.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the auto manufacturer to purchase up to 10.8% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

General Motors Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, September 6th will be given a $0.12 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, September 6th. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.96%. General Motors’s dividend payout ratio is presently 5.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GM has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of General Motors from $32.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on General Motors from $58.00 to $54.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 9th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of General Motors in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Bank of America reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $75.00 target price on shares of General Motors in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of General Motors from $60.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, General Motors currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $55.17.

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.