Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Reduces Position in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC cut its holdings in General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 5.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 382,017 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 22,277 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in General Electric were worth $63,717,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Electric in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $733,000. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Electric during the fourth quarter worth $795,000. State Street Corp grew its position 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 buying an additional 898,296 shares during the last quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in General Electric by 269.8% in the 3rd quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 28,201 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $5,318,000 after buying an additional 20,575 shares during the period. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in General Electric by 60.7% during the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,662 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,576,000 after buying an additional 5,162 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

General Electric Stock Down 1.4 %

GE stock opened at $192.28 on Friday. General Electric has a 12 month low of $131.91 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. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $195.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $183.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $206.37 billion, a PE ratio of 32.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.19.

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

General Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. This is an increase from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of General Electric from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Northcoast Research assumed coverage on General Electric in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Citigroup lifted their price target on General Electric from $216.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America increased their price objective on General Electric from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on General Electric from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.31.

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.