General Electric (NYSE:GE) Shares Purchased by Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI

Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI increased its position in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 16.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,507 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 651 shares during the period. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI’s holdings in General Electric were worth $575,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in General Electric by 4.0% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,588,433 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,170,551,000 after purchasing an additional 410,061 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of General Electric by 5.1% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,955,511 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $990,032,000 after acquiring an additional 434,736 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Electric in the fourth quarter worth $520,488,000. Meritage Group LP raised its holdings in shares of General Electric by 3.5% in the third quarter. Meritage Group LP now owns 3,294,044 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $364,157,000 after acquiring an additional 110,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of General Electric by 1.1% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,074,080 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $339,848,000 after acquiring an additional 32,643 shares during the last quarter. 74.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GE. Barclays cut their price target on General Electric from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on General Electric from $180.00 to $148.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Citigroup boosted their price target on General Electric from $120.43 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on General Electric from $195.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on General Electric from $210.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, General Electric currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Electric

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

General Electric Price Performance

GE stock opened at $162.35 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $160.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $136.27. General Electric has a 12-month low of $77.28 and a 12-month high of $163.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company has a market cap of $177.71 billion, a PE ratio of 53.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.29.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) 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 firm had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.27 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that General Electric will post 3.93 EPS for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 12th. This is an increase 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.