General Electric (NYSE:GE) Shares Bought by National Pension Service

National Pension Service grew its holdings in General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,916,309 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 45,231 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service’s holdings in General Electric were worth $244,579,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of GE. Halpern Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of General Electric by 968.4% in the fourth quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. now owns 203 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Electric during the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. CGC Financial Services LLC boosted its position in shares of General Electric by 90.2% in the fourth quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 232 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Capital Analysts LLC grew its holdings in General Electric by 55.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 243 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. Finally, Bfsg LLC acquired a new position in General Electric during the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of General Electric from $210.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. StockNews.com assumed coverage on General Electric in a research report on Monday, April 29th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. TheStreet raised shares of General Electric from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on General Electric from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on General Electric from $180.00 to $148.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $172.29.

Insider Transactions at General Electric

In related news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.87, for a total value of $3,195,107.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 56,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,153,863.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

General Electric Price Performance

GE stock traded down $1.43 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $167.43. 2,178,595 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,772,817. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $162.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $139.17. General Electric has a one year low of $78.17 and a one year high of $170.80. The company has a market cap of $183.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.25.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.17. General Electric had a net margin of 5.05% and a return on equity of 12.54%. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.27 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that General Electric will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 12th. This is an increase from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is 36.72%.

General Electric Profile

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.