THE Commonwealth Bank of Australia has boosted its share investment in US-listed Ford Motor Company by 1.7 per cent in the last quarter, taking its investment to $US10.13 million ($A13.2m).

CommBank now owns 839,063 Ford shares after buying an additional 14,248 shares in the last quarter as the majority of advisors give the car-maker a “buy” rating.

For Australians holding investments – including superannuation and fixed term deposits – it means they own a little bit of the US car-maker.

How little? The latest share-buying spree by CommBank lifts its investment in Ford to 0.25 per cent.

But its purchase seems to be well timed and has been repeated by some major global investment firms. BlackRock Fund Advisors bought 1.6 million shares in the same period, lifting its exposure in Ford to $US570 million ($A743m).

Morgan Stanley bought 6.3 million shares valued at $US79.4 million ($A103.5m) to now hold 34.7 million shares worth $US418.5 million ($A545.7m).

Ford announced its quarterly earnings results on January 26, reporting revenue of $US38.7 billion ($A50.5b) for the quarter, up 2.1 per cent compared with the previous corresponding period and above market expectations.

It recently declared a quarterly dividend, to be paid on March 1, of US15 cents (A19.6c) a share, giving CommBank a dividend earn for the quarter of $US125,900 ($A164,170).

Analysts expect Ford to remain on its target and post an annualised US60c (A78c) a share dividend.

Ford Motor Company shares are trading around $US12.50 ($A16.30). It has a market capitalisation of $US50.63 billion ($A66b).

During the last quarter, research reports on Ford from Citigroup and Morgan Stanley said investors should increase their holdings in Ford because of positive future earnings.

By Neil Dowling