General Electric (NYSE:GE) Shares Sold by Clearbridge Investments LLC

Clearbridge Investments LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 7,868 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 315 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in General Electric were worth $1,004,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GE. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. raised its position in General Electric by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 4,316 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $550,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC raised its position in General Electric by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 6,377 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $814,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Forte Capital LLC ADV raised its position in General Electric by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV now owns 4,067 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $519,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the period. Atlas Brown Inc. raised its position in General Electric by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 8,322 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,062,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Analysts LLC raised its position in General Electric by 55.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 243 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the period. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Electric

In other General Electric news, SVP Russell Stokes sold 45,309 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.82, for a total value of $7,377,211.38. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 112,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,391,821.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.66% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

General Electric Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of GE opened at $167.33 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. General Electric has a 12-month low of $79.76 and a 12-month high of $170.80. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $162.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $144.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $183.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 1.25.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 5.05% and a return on equity of 12.54%. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.27 earnings per share. General Electric’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that General Electric will post 3.98 EPS for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on GE. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of General Electric from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of General Electric from $190.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of General Electric from $165.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of General Electric from $120.43 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on shares of General Electric from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Electric presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $176.00.

General Electric Company 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.