Avity Investment Management Inc. Cuts Position in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Avity Investment Management Inc. decreased its position in General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 7.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,585 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 375 shares during the quarter. Avity Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in General Electric were worth $865,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of General Electric by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 88,444,222 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $11,288,136,000 after buying an additional 550,996 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in General Electric by 9.9% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 59,100,643 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $10,373,936,000 after purchasing an additional 5,309,543 shares during the last quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC bought a new position in General Electric during the second quarter worth $2,613,332,000. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in General Electric by 2,818.1% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,749,560 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,237,930,000 after purchasing an additional 12,312,648 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in General Electric by 5.8% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,405,731 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,336,257,000 after purchasing an additional 459,201 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on GE shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on General Electric from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Citigroup raised their price objective on General Electric from $198.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on General Electric from $212.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on General Electric from $192.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on General Electric from $201.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $195.14.

General Electric Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GE traded up $3.04 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $191.16. 2,983,933 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,415,765. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $175.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $166.65. The company has a market cap of $207.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.31, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.18. General Electric has a 52 week low of $84.42 and a 52 week high of $191.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $9.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.44 billion. General Electric had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 7.66%. General Electric’s revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.68 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that General Electric will post 4.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 26th. General Electric’s payout ratio is currently 26.54%.

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.