Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. Reduces Position in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. reduced its stake in General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 65.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 7,571 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 14,289 shares during the period. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.’s holdings in General Electric were worth $1,263,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in GE. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in General Electric by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 43,322,827 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $8,181,801,000 after purchasing an additional 898,296 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of General Electric by 0.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 22,587,961 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,244,676,000 after buying an additional 156,272 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in General Electric by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 7,878,650 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,314,080,000 after acquiring an additional 106,891 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in General Electric by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,766,421 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,128,571,000 after acquiring an additional 115,257 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in General Electric by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,732,817 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,122,966,000 after acquiring an additional 202,233 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on General Electric from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on General Electric in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $250.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on General Electric from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Northcoast Research assumed coverage on shares of General Electric in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of General Electric from $216.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.31.

General Electric Trading Down 1.6 %

NYSE:GE opened at $198.82 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $191.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $182.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $213.39 billion, a PE ratio of 33.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.22. General Electric has a 12 month low of $125.26 and a 12 month high of $212.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. Research analysts predict that General Electric will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This is a boost from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. General Electric’s payout ratio is presently 24.04%.

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.