CEO Akerson Buys Nearly $1M in GM Stock

General Motors Co. CEO Daniel Akerson has bought nearly $1 million of GM stock as a personal investment, according to a regulatory filing made today.

The 62-year-old Akerson bought 30,000 shares of stock Wednesday at $31.33 a share, for a total transaction price of $939,900, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing stated.

The purchase brings the CEO's total stock holdings to 50,000 shares, or $1.6 million based on the current stock price. Akerson, who became CEO Sept. 1, 2010, also holds another 60,584 units of deferred stock awarded as pay, The Detroit News reported.

The chief executive's yearly compensation package includes $1.7 million in cash, and another $7.3 million in stock-based compensation.

GM was trading about $31.40 a share this afternoon — more than $2 below its initial offering price of $33 a share.

GM spokesman Jim Cain confirmed Akerson bought the stock as a personal investment, but declined to elaborate other than to say the "investment speaks for itself."

In the last few months, GM stock has struggled to top its initial offering price from last November, and has instead hovered closer to $31 and $32 a share.

GM reported $3.2 billion in profits for the first quarter, a gain fueled largely by one-time items, such as money generated on GM's sale of former parts supplier Delphi Automotive, LLC.

Analysts were largely disappointed in the automaker's North American performance January through March, during which the company spent heavily on marketing and sales incentives. Still, many on Wall Street consider GM stock a good buy with industry sales on the upswing and GM models selling well.

The U.S. Treasury, too, is closely watching GM's share price.

It still holds a 26 percent stake in GM — about 500 million shares — which it hopes to sell off to recoup the $49.5 billion spent on the automaker's 2009 bailout.