Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Trims Position in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System trimmed its stake in General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 4.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 58,200 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 2,800 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in General Electric were worth $9,707,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Toth Financial Advisory Corp purchased a new position in shares of General Electric during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. bought a new position in General Electric during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in General Electric during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of General Electric in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Electric in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. 74.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of General Electric from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Melius Research increased their target price on General Electric from $194.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Northcoast Research began coverage on General Electric in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on General Electric from $235.00 to $228.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of General Electric from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, General Electric presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.73.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Russell Stokes sold 15,550 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.29, for a total value of $2,772,409.50. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 148,857 shares in the company, valued at $26,539,714.53. This represents a 9.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

General Electric Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of General Electric stock opened at $209.03 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $180.18 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $178.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $224.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.90, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.21. General Electric has a 12-month low of $110.95 and a 12-month high of $209.15. 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 (NYSE:GE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.32 earnings per share (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%. Analysts predict that General Electric will post 5.39 EPS for the current year.

General Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. General Electric’s payout ratio is 18.70%.

General Electric Company 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.