Vontobel Holding Ltd. Buys 6,404 Shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its stake in General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 40.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 22,068 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,404 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in General Electric were worth $3,681,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GE. Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in General Electric by 91.8% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 7,771,759 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,465,598,000 after buying an additional 3,719,894 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in General Electric by 21,069.8% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,173,142 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $598,391,000 after purchasing an additional 3,158,153 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in General Electric by 505.8% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,908,434 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $359,882,000 after purchasing an additional 1,593,413 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in General Electric by 206.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,444,466 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $278,247,000 after purchasing an additional 973,135 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp grew its holdings in General Electric by 2.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 43,322,827 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $8,181,801,000 after purchasing an additional 898,296 shares during the period. 74.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

General Electric Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of GE stock opened at $208.62 on Monday. General Electric has a 12-month low of $117.43 and a 12-month high of $211.42. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average is $182.66 and its 200 day moving average is $179.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $223.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.22.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. Research analysts expect that General Electric will post 5.39 earnings per share for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.36 dividend. This is an increase from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of General Electric from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of General Electric from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Melius Research upped their price objective on shares of General Electric from $194.00 to $202.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Northcoast Research initiated coverage on shares of General Electric in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Finally, 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.73.

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.