General Electric (NYSE:GE) Shares Bought by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 0.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 89,815,318 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 410,172 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.08% of General Electric worth $14,980,297,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of GE. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in General Electric by 29.8% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 18,706 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,528,000 after acquiring an additional 4,294 shares during the period. Moran Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in General Electric in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $243,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI grew its stake in General Electric by 20.1% in the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 8,617 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,628,000 after acquiring an additional 1,445 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in General Electric by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 842,223 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $158,826,000 after acquiring an additional 42,490 shares during the period. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in General Electric by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 96,832 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $17,896,000 after acquiring an additional 5,639 shares during the period. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

General Electric Price Performance

GE opened at $203.99 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $198.63 and a 200-day moving average of $185.01. The company has a market capitalization of $218.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.06, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.19. General Electric has a 1-year low of $133.99 and a 1-year high of $212.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.09.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last released its 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 net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 22.19%. Equities analysts expect that General Electric will post 5.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This is an increase from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.04%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GE. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of General Electric from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Bank of America lifted their target price 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. 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 report on Friday, January 24th. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of General Electric in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $250.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Northcoast Research initiated coverage on shares of General Electric in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.