Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Cuts Stake in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lowered its position in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 2.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,223 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 97 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in General Electric were worth $704,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new position in General Electric in the second quarter valued at about $811,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in General Electric by 20.4% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 65,517 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $10,415,000 after purchasing an additional 11,082 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its stake in General Electric by 4.8% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 66,953 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $10,644,000 after purchasing an additional 3,086 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its stake in General Electric by 11.5% in the second quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 1,193 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $190,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in General Electric by 1.0% in the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 19,317 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,071,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

General Electric Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE:GE opened at $194.46 on Wednesday. General Electric has a 12-month low of $103.75 and a 12-month high of $207.65. The company has a market capitalization of $210.46 billion, a PE ratio of 34.18, a PEG ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.19. The business has a 50 day moving average of $175.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $175.38. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

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

General Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were given a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.68%.

Insider Activity

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on GE. Northcoast Research began coverage on General Electric in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on General Electric from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Melius Research boosted their price target on General Electric from $194.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted 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. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on General Electric from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.