General Electric (NYSE:GE) Position Lessened by Certuity LLC

Certuity LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 308,181 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 8,711 shares during the quarter. General Electric accounts for 4.0% of Certuity LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Certuity LLC’s holdings in General Electric were worth $39,333,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GE. Halpern Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of General Electric by 968.4% during the fourth quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. now owns 203 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in General Electric in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. CGC Financial Services LLC increased its holdings in General Electric by 90.2% in the fourth quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 232 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Capital Analysts LLC increased its holdings in General Electric by 55.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 243 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bfsg LLC bought a new stake in General Electric in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. 74.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Electric Price Performance

Shares of GE traded down $1.55 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $162.94. 4,216,732 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,031,000. The company has a market capitalization of $178.36 billion, a PE ratio of 53.93, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $161.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $136.80. General Electric has a one year low of $77.93 and a one year high of $166.26.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion during 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 company’s revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.27 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that General Electric will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 25th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend 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%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.87, for a total value of $3,195,107.85. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 56,284 shares in the company, valued at $8,153,863.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the 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 directly owns 56,284 shares in the company, valued at $8,153,863.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 13,601 shares of the 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 48,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,552,351.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on GE shares. Vertical Research started coverage on General Electric in a report on Thursday, April 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $160.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on General Electric from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Argus upped their target price on General Electric from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on General Electric from $165.00 to $192.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on General Electric from $210.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $172.29.

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.