Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in General Motors (NYSE:GM)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its position in General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) by 0.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,256,535 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock after selling 11,561 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.13% of General Motors worth $66,936,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GM. Pure Portfolios Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in General Motors in the fourth quarter worth about $223,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Motors in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Hourglass Capital LLC grew its position in General Motors by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Hourglass Capital LLC now owns 79,147 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $4,216,000 after purchasing an additional 390 shares during the last quarter. Secured Retirement Advisors LLC acquired a new position in General Motors during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,131,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Motors in the fourth quarter worth $783,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.67% of the company’s stock.

General Motors Price Performance

General Motors stock opened at $47.77 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $47.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 7.77, a P/E/G ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.40. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $50.90 and its 200 day moving average price is $50.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.13. General Motors has a 1 year low of $38.13 and a 1 year high of $61.24.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The auto manufacturer reported $1.92 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.17. General Motors had a net margin of 3.21% and a return on equity of 15.29%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that General Motors will post 11.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Motors Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, March 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 7th will be paid a $0.12 dividend. This represents a $0.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 7th. General Motors’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Rory Harvey sold 8,919 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.01, for a total value of $535,229.19. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,513 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $510,865.13. This trade represents a 51.16 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Alfred F. Kelly, Jr. acquired 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 30th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $50.66 per share, for a total transaction of $607,920.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 13,714 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $694,751.24. The trade was a 700.12 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 0.72% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on GM shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on General Motors from $58.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays raised their price objective on General Motors from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on General Motors from $53.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of General Motors from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, HSBC downgraded shares of General Motors from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $58.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Motors presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $59.71.

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.