Kovack Advisors Inc. Has $1.24 Million Stock Position in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Kovack Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 7.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,718 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 777 shares during the quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in General Electric were worth $1,240,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GE. Herold Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in General Electric by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Herold Advisors Inc. now owns 2,879 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $367,000 after purchasing an additional 137 shares during the period. Van Cleef Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in General Electric by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Van Cleef Asset Management Inc now owns 3,719 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $475,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP raised its holdings in General Electric by 51.8% in the 4th quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP now owns 21,911 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,797,000 after acquiring an additional 7,475 shares in the last quarter. Abbrea Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of General Electric by 47.1% during the 4th quarter. Abbrea Capital LLC now owns 4,179 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $534,000 after buying an additional 1,338 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Syon Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of General Electric by 7.2% during the 4th quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 6,477 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $827,000 after buying an additional 433 shares in the last quarter. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 13,601 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,552,351.45. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 13,601 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total transaction of $1,843,615.55. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,552,351.45. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 56,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,153,863.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

General Electric Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of General Electric stock traded up $1.09 on Friday, hitting $162.35. 5,898,021 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,321,559. General Electric has a one year low of $77.28 and a one year high of $163.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a fifty day moving average of $160.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $136.09. The company has a market capitalization of $177.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.29.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.25 billion. General Electric had a return on equity of 12.54% and a net margin of 5.05%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.27 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that General Electric will post 3.95 earnings per share for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th were issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 12th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. This is a positive change from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.72%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on General Electric from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on General Electric from $190.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America boosted their price target on General Electric from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on General Electric from $195.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, TheStreet raised General Electric from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.00.

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.