Blue Trust Inc. Cuts Holdings in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Blue Trust Inc. decreased its position in General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 16.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 11,465 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 2,178 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in General Electric were worth $1,912,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp boosted its stake in General Electric by 2.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 43,322,827 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $8,181,801,000 after acquiring an additional 898,296 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of General Electric by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 22,587,961 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $4,244,676,000 after purchasing an additional 156,272 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in General Electric by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 7,878,650 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,314,080,000 after purchasing an additional 106,891 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in General Electric by 6.7% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 6,556,515 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,236,428,000 after purchasing an additional 413,388 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in General Electric by 12.5% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,106,786 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $774,458,000 after buying an additional 457,038 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America upped their price target on General Electric from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of General Electric from $235.00 to $228.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Melius Research upped their price target on shares of General Electric from $194.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Northcoast Research began coverage on shares of General Electric in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of General Electric in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, General Electric presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.73.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Electric news, SVP Russell Stokes sold 15,550 shares of General Electric stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.29, for a total transaction of $2,772,409.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 148,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,539,714.53. This trade represents a 9.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

General Electric Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE GE opened at $208.62 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The business has a 50-day moving average of $182.66 and a 200-day moving average of $179.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $223.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.83, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.22. General Electric has a 12 month low of $117.43 and a 12 month high of $211.42.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.27. General Electric had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 22.19%. Sell-side analysts expect that General Electric will post 5.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This is an increase from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.70%.

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.