Empirical Finance LLC Trims Holdings in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Empirical Finance LLC cut its stake in General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 37,129 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 500 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in General Electric were worth $6,193,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GE. UMB Bank n.a. grew its position in shares of General Electric by 16.2% in the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 7,600 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,433,000 after purchasing an additional 1,061 shares in the last quarter. Watts Gwilliam & Co. LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Electric in the third quarter valued at $205,000. LongView Wealth Management bought a new stake in General Electric during the third quarter valued at $225,000. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its stake in General Electric by 93.8% during the third quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 24,432 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,611,000 after buying an additional 11,827 shares during the period. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in General Electric by 11.5% during the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 17,759 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,349,000 after buying an additional 1,833 shares during the period. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at General Electric

In related news, SVP Russell Stokes sold 15,550 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 148,857 shares in the company, valued at $26,539,714.53. The trade was a 9.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.66% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

General Electric Stock Down 0.4 %

GE opened at $205.32 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $220.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.22. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $179.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $177.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. General Electric has a 12 month low of $110.57 and a 12 month high of $207.84.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.27. General Electric had a return on equity of 22.19% and a net margin of 14.31%. On average, equities analysts expect that General Electric will post 5.39 EPS for the current year.

General Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.70%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Northcoast Research assumed coverage on General Electric in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on General Electric from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on General Electric from $235.00 to $228.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on General Electric from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Melius Research lifted their price objective on General Electric from $194.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.73.

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.