General Electric (NYSE:GE) Shares Bought by Merit Financial Group LLC

Merit Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 16.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,427 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,298 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in General Electric were worth $5,075,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of GE. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Electric by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Relyea Zuckerberg Hanson LLC now owns 2,425 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $405,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Saxon Interests Inc. boosted its stake in General Electric by 4.2% during the fourth quarter. Saxon Interests Inc. now owns 1,425 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $238,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC grew its holdings in General Electric by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 2,251 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $375,000 after buying an additional 281 shares in the last quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC grew its holdings in General Electric by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC now owns 1,278 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $213,000 after buying an additional 145 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tompkins Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of General Electric by 20.9% in the 4th quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp now owns 4,766 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $795,000 after acquiring an additional 825 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

General Electric Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GE opened at $182.83 on Friday. General Electric has a 12 month low of $101.16 and a 12 month high of $194.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $197.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.19. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $174.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $174.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.02. General Electric had a return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 11.48%. The business had revenue of $9.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.82 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that General Electric will post 4.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.68%.

Insider Activity at General Electric

In related news, SVP Russell Stokes sold 15,550 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.29, for a total transaction of $2,772,409.50. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 148,857 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,539,714.53. This trade represents a 9.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Riccardo Procacci sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.13, for a total value of $1,267,910.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,407,036.57. This represents a 34.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GE. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of General Electric from $198.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Bank of America boosted their target price on General Electric from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of General Electric from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group boosted their target price on General Electric from $223.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Melius Research increased their price objective on General Electric from $194.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.47.

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.