Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC Cuts Holdings in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC decreased its stake in General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 12.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 37,540 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 5,514 shares during the period. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in General Electric were worth $4,791,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in GE. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of General Electric by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,588,433 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,170,551,000 after purchasing an additional 410,061 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its position in General Electric by 5.1% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,955,511 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $990,032,000 after acquiring an additional 434,736 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Electric during the fourth quarter worth approximately $520,488,000. Meritage Group LP lifted its holdings in shares of General Electric by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Meritage Group LP now owns 3,294,044 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $364,157,000 after acquiring an additional 110,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of General Electric by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,074,080 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $339,848,000 after purchasing an additional 32,643 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on GE. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of General Electric from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of General Electric in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Vertical Research started coverage on General Electric in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $160.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on General Electric from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of General Electric from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, General Electric has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $172.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other General Electric news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.87, for a total transaction of $3,195,107.85. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 56,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,153,863.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.66% of the stock is owned by insiders.

General Electric Stock Performance

NYSE GE traded up $3.86 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $167.97. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,532,737 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,902,885. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $161.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $138.30. General Electric has a 12 month low of $78.17 and a 12 month high of $167.98. The company has a market cap of $183.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.17. General Electric had a return on equity of 12.54% and a net margin of 5.05%. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.27 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that General Electric will post 3.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th were paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. This is a positive change from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 12th. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is 36.72%.

About General Electric

General Electric Company, doing business as GE Aerospace, designs and produces commercial and defense aircraft engines, integrated engine components, electric power, and mechanical aircraft systems. It also offers aftermarket services to support its products. The company operates in the United States, Europe, China, Asia, the Americas, the Middle East, and Africa.