General Electric (NYSE:GE) Shares Sold by Welch & Forbes LLC

Welch & Forbes LLC reduced its stake in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 45,903 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 387 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in General Electric were worth $5,859,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GE. Halpern Financial Inc. raised its holdings in General Electric by 968.4% in the 4th quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. now owns 203 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Electric during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. CGC Financial Services LLC raised its position in shares of General Electric by 90.2% during the 4th quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 232 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the period. Capital Analysts LLC lifted its holdings in General Electric by 55.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 243 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bfsg LLC purchased a new position in General Electric in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. 74.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at General Electric

In other General Electric news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of General Electric stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.87, for a total value of $3,195,107.85. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 56,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,153,863.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on GE shares. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of General Electric in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on General Electric from $190.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on shares of General Electric from $210.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. TheStreet raised shares of General Electric from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, Vertical Research began coverage on shares of General Electric in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $160.00 price target for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $172.29.

General Electric Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GE traded up $0.81 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $168.78. The stock had a trading volume of 4,733,691 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,870,777. The firm has a market cap of $184.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.34, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.25. General Electric has a fifty-two week low of $78.17 and a fifty-two week high of $170.80. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $162.49 and a 200-day moving average of $139.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.17. General Electric had a return on equity of 12.54% and a net margin of 5.05%. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.27 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that General Electric will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 12th. This is an increase from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.72%.

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.