OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A Cuts Position in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A trimmed its stake in General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 3.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,471 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 294 shares during the period. OLD Point Trust & Financial Services N A’s holdings in General Electric were worth $1,580,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in GE. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in General Electric by 91.8% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 7,771,759 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,465,598,000 after acquiring an additional 3,719,894 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in General Electric by 505.8% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,908,434 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $359,882,000 after buying an additional 1,593,413 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in General Electric during the 4th quarter valued at about $194,208,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in General Electric by 206.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,444,466 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $278,247,000 after acquiring an additional 973,135 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its holdings in General Electric by 2.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 43,322,827 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $8,181,801,000 after acquiring an additional 898,296 shares in the last quarter. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of General Electric from $216.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of General Electric in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on General Electric from $235.00 to $228.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. UBS Group raised their price objective on General Electric from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on General Electric in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $250.00 target price on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.31.

General Electric Stock Up 2.4 %

GE opened at $205.67 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $197.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $184.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $220.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.34, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.19. General Electric has a fifty-two week low of $133.99 and a fifty-two week high of $212.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.09.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.32 earnings per share 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%. On average, research analysts expect that General Electric will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The firm 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 positive change from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.04%.

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.