Merit Financial Group LLC Purchases 4,298 Shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Merit Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 16.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,427 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,298 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in General Electric were worth $5,075,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GE. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in General Electric during the second quarter valued at $556,000. Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of General Electric during the second quarter valued at about $560,000. ProVise Management Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Electric by 18.8% in the second quarter. ProVise Management Group LLC now owns 2,787 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $443,000 after purchasing an additional 442 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of General Electric by 1.3% in the second quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 8,020 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,275,000 after buying an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC boosted its stake in General Electric by 4.6% during the second quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 42,347 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $6,732,000 after buying an additional 1,868 shares during the last quarter. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at General Electric

In other General Electric news, SVP Riccardo Procacci sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.13, for a total transaction of $1,267,910.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,407,036.57. This trade represents a 34.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Russell Stokes sold 15,550 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.29, for a total transaction of $2,772,409.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 148,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,539,714.53. This represents a 9.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

General Electric Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE GE opened at $182.83 on Friday. General Electric has a 1-year low of $101.16 and a 1-year high of $194.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $197.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $174.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $174.00.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.02. General Electric had a return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 11.48%. The firm had revenue of $9.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.82 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that General Electric will post 4.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup lifted 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, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on General Electric from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on General Electric from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of General Electric from $235.00 to $228.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of General Electric from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.47.

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.