California Public Employees Retirement System Has $262.06 Million Stock Holdings in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

California Public Employees Retirement System cut its stake in General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,053,271 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 44,984 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in General Electric were worth $262,059,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GE. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in General Electric by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,588,433 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,170,551,000 after acquiring an additional 410,061 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its position in General Electric by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,955,511 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $990,032,000 after acquiring an additional 434,736 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in General Electric during the 4th quarter worth $520,488,000. Meritage Group LP grew its position 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 valued at $364,157,000 after buying an additional 110,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position 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 buying an additional 32,643 shares during the last quarter. 74.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

General Electric Stock Up 5.7 %

GE stock traded up $8.62 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $158.81. 5,840,077 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,956,995. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $159.52 and its 200 day moving average is $135.03. General Electric has a twelve month low of $76.87 and a twelve month high of $160.02. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm has a market cap of $173.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.29.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.25 billion. General Electric had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 13.95%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.27 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that General Electric will post 3.76 EPS for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This is a boost from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. General Electric’s payout ratio is 13.38%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 13,601 shares of General Electric stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total value of $1,843,615.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,339 shares in the company, valued at $6,552,351.45. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of General Electric stock in a transaction on 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 available through this link. Also, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 13,601 shares of General Electric stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total value of $1,843,615.55. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,552,351.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.66% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on GE shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on General Electric from $200.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays reduced their price target on General Electric from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on General Electric from $180.00 to $148.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on General Electric in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $190.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on General Electric from $195.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $160.07.

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.