Ledyard National Bank Makes New $319,000 Investment in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Ledyard National Bank bought a new position in General Electric (NYSE:GE) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 2,499 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $319,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of General Electric by 29.3% during the 4th quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 28,311 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,613,000 after purchasing an additional 6,419 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in shares of General Electric by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 261,187 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $33,335,000 after purchasing an additional 28,985 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of General Electric by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 109,332 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $12,087,000 after acquiring an additional 10,722 shares during the period. Grandfield & Dodd LLC grew its stake in shares of General Electric by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 269,783 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $34,432,000 after acquiring an additional 22,998 shares during the period. Finally, Qsemble Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of General Electric during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,846,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GE. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on General Electric from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. 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, April 24th. StockNews.com began coverage on General Electric in a report on Monday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. TheStreet raised General Electric from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on General Electric from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, General Electric presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $172.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.87, for a total transaction of $3,195,107.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 56,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,153,863.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other General Electric news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 13,601 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total transaction of $1,843,615.55. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 48,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,552,351.45. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 56,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,153,863.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.66% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

General Electric Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of GE traded down $1.63 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $162.86. 2,512,518 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,010,398. General Electric has a 52 week low of $77.93 and a 52 week high of $166.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company’s 50 day moving average is $161.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $136.80. The company has a market capitalization of $178.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.93, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.29.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.17. General Electric had a return on equity of 12.54% and a net margin of 5.05%. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.27 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that General Electric will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

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

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.