General Electric (NYSE:GE) Shares Bought by Fifth Third Bancorp

Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 424,718 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 13,177 shares during the quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in General Electric were worth $70,839,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Toth Financial Advisory Corp acquired a new position in shares of General Electric in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. purchased a new position in shares of General Electric during the third quarter worth about $25,000. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Electric during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of General Electric in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Electric in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

General Electric Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of General Electric stock opened at $196.81 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $213.00 billion, a PE ratio of 34.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. General Electric has a fifty-two week low of $103.75 and a fifty-two week high of $207.65. The business’s fifty day moving average is $174.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $174.77.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.27. General Electric had a net margin of 11.48% and a return on equity of 18.93%. Analysts anticipate that General Electric will post 4.23 earnings per share for the current year.

General Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on GE shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on General Electric from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of General Electric from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of General Electric from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of General Electric in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on General Electric from $198.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $205.80.

Insider Activity at General Electric

In other news, SVP Russell Stokes sold 15,550 shares of General Electric stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.29, for a total transaction of $2,772,409.50. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 148,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,539,714.53. The trade was a 9.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Riccardo Procacci sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.13, for a total value of $1,267,910.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,407,036.57. This represents a 34.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

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.