Vestcor Inc Sells 1,310 Shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Vestcor Inc reduced its stake in General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 6.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 20,036 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,310 shares during the period. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in General Electric were worth $3,342,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. bought a new position in General Electric during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in General Electric in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of General Electric in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Electric in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. 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 currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Northcoast Research started coverage on shares of General Electric in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of General Electric from $216.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of General Electric from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of General Electric in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $250.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on shares of General Electric from $235.00 to $228.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Electric presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.31.

General Electric Price Performance

Shares of General Electric stock opened at $192.28 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $195.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $183.64. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The stock has a market cap of $206.37 billion, a PE ratio of 32.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.19. General Electric has a 52 week low of $131.91 and a 52 week high of $212.19.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last released its 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that General Electric will post 5.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.36 dividend. This is a positive change from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. General Electric’s payout ratio is 24.04%.

About General Electric

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.