General Electric (NYSE:GE) Shares Sold by Meritage Group LP

Meritage Group LP trimmed its holdings in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 28.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,231,708 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 498,134 shares during the period. General Electric accounts for 4.9% of Meritage Group LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Meritage Group LP owned approximately 0.11% of General Electric worth $205,437,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in General Electric by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 89,815,318 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $14,980,297,000 after acquiring an additional 410,172 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in General Electric by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 66,823,968 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $11,145,570,000 after purchasing an additional 965,012 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in General Electric by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 23,117,418 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,846,587,000 after buying an additional 529,457 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in General Electric in the fourth quarter worth $2,375,439,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in General Electric by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,544,757 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,591,970,000 after buying an additional 1,204,910 shares during the last quarter. 74.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on GE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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. Citigroup cut their price target on General Electric from $235.00 to $227.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of General Electric in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on General Electric from $203.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Northcoast Research raised General Electric from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $205.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Electric currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $213.33.

General Electric Trading Down 0.3 %

General Electric stock opened at $181.88 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $195.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.04. General Electric has a 1 year low of $148.83 and a 1 year high of $214.21. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $196.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $186.50. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.27. General Electric had a return on equity of 22.19% and a net margin of 14.31%. On average, research analysts predict that General Electric will post 5.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is a positive change from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.04%.

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.