Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $56.86 Million Holdings in General Motors (NYSE:GM)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) by 1.1% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,268,096 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock after purchasing an additional 13,206 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in General Motors were worth $56,861,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its stake in General Motors by 15.9% during the 3rd quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 11,382 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $510,000 after purchasing an additional 1,559 shares during the period. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. boosted its position in shares of General Motors by 12.1% in the third quarter. Donald Smith & CO. Inc. now owns 1,629,573 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $73,070,000 after acquiring an additional 175,860 shares during the period. Foster & Motley Inc. boosted its position in shares of General Motors by 121.5% in the third quarter. Foster & Motley Inc. now owns 47,169 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock valued at $2,115,000 after acquiring an additional 25,869 shares during the period. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of General Motors by 115.1% in the third quarter. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC now owns 178,443 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $8,001,000 after acquiring an additional 95,484 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Olstein Capital Management L.P. increased its position in General Motors by 14.9% during the third quarter. Olstein Capital Management L.P. now owns 162,000 shares of the auto manufacturer’s stock worth $7,264,000 after acquiring an additional 21,000 shares during the period. 92.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of General Motors from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group lifted their target price on General Motors from $58.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. HSBC cut General Motors from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $58.00 price target for the company. in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on General Motors from $59.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded General Motors from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $46.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $58.70.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Motors

In other General Motors news, CEO Mary T. Barra sold 506,824 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.33, for a total value of $27,028,923.92. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 694,548 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,040,244.84. This represents a 42.19 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Rory Harvey sold 9,307 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.01, for a total transaction of $502,671.07. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 8,513 shares in the company, valued at approximately $459,787.13. This trade represents a 52.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,030,475 shares of company stock worth $56,509,286. Insiders own 0.72% of the company’s stock.

General Motors Trading Up 2.9 %

GM stock opened at $51.81 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.03, a current ratio of 1.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.24. General Motors has a twelve month low of $34.32 and a twelve month high of $61.24. The company has a market cap of $56.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 5.52, a PEG ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 1.42. The business has a fifty day moving average of $53.40 and a 200-day moving average of $48.91.

General Motors (NYSE:GM) (TSE:GMM.U) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The auto manufacturer reported $2.96 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.49 by $0.47. The company had revenue of $48.76 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.67 billion. General Motors had a net margin of 6.06% and a return on equity of 16.30%. The company’s revenue was up 10.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.28 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that General Motors will post 10.35 EPS for the current year.

General Motors Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, December 19th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 6th were given a dividend of $0.12 per share. This represents a $0.48 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 6th. General Motors’s payout ratio is 5.12%.

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.