Barclays Increases General Motors Target Price to $70.00

General Motors (NYSE:GM) has received an upgraded target price from Barclays, which raised its estimate from $64.00 to $70.00. This change was detailed in a research note released on Wednesday, where Barclays also assigned the automaker an "overweight" rating. The new target price suggests a potential upside of approximately 30.99% based on General Motors' current stock price.

In recent weeks, several other financial institutions have weighed in on General Motors. For instance, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target for GM shares from $34.00 to $33.00, resulting in an "underweight" rating issued on September 10. Meanwhile, StockNews.com downgraded GM from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating on July 24. On the other hand, UBS Group raised its price objective for General Motors from $61.00 to $64.00, maintaining a "buy" rating as of July 10, while JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its target from $60.00 to $61.00 and also assigned an "overweight" rating on July 24. DZ Bank, however, lowered its recommendation from "buy" to "hold" with a target price of $49.00 as of October 11.

Analytic data shows a mix of ratings for General Motors, with four analysts indicating a sell rating, seven maintaining a hold rating, eleven assigning a buy rating, and one issuing a strong buy rating. The average rating for GM stock across analysts is "Hold," with a consensus target price of $55.63.

General Motors Market Performance

As of Wednesday's market opening, General Motors shares were trading at $53.44. The company boasts a market capitalization of $60.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 6.53, and a price/earnings to growth ratio of 0.56. Over the last year, the stock has seen a low of $26.30 and a high of $54.17. Key financial ratios include a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.23, a current ratio of 1.18, and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company’s 50-day simple moving average stands at $47.33, while the 200-day average is $46.04.

Quarterly Earnings and Insider Trading

General Motors recently reported its quarterly earnings on October 22. The automaker announced earnings of $2.96 per share, surpassing the consensus estimate of $2.49 by $0.47. The company's net margin was reported at 6.22%, with a return on equity of 15.77%. GM's revenue for the quarter reached $48.76 billion, exceeding analyst expectations of $44.67 billion. Year-over-year, revenue increased by 10.5%. Analysts project that General Motors will achieve earnings per share of 9.95 for the current fiscal year.

In insider trading news, CFO Paul A. Jacobson purchased 25,000 shares of GM stock on July 26 at an average price of $44.11 per share, totaling approximately $1.10 million. Following this purchase, he holds 261,872 shares valued at around $11.55 million. In contrast, EVP Rory Harvey sold 2,302 shares on August 23 at an average price of $47.31, totaling about $108,907.62, reducing his direct ownership to about 10,356 shares valued at approximately $489,942.36. Insiders currently own about 0.72% of GM's stock.

Institutional Investment and Analysis of General Motors

Many hedge funds have recently adjusted their positions in General Motors. For example, ACR Alpine Capital Research LLC increased its stake by 8.4%, now holding over 6.3 million shares worth about $287.4 million. Other institutional investors like BDF Gestion and Atomi Financial Group also acquired new positions or increased their stakes, contributing to a total of 92.67% of GM shares being held by institutional investors and hedge funds.

General Motors designs, builds, and sells a variety of vehicles including trucks, crossovers, and cars, alongside automobile parts. The company operates through several segments and markets its vehicles primarily under the Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, and GMC brands.

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