Washington Trust Advisors Inc. Sells 119 Shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Washington Trust Advisors Inc. reduced its position in General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 1.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,364 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 119 shares during the quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc.’s holdings in General Electric were worth $1,395,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GE. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Electric by 91.8% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 7,771,759 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,465,598,000 after purchasing an additional 3,719,894 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of General Electric by 505.8% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,908,434 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $359,882,000 after purchasing an additional 1,593,413 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of General Electric during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $194,208,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of General Electric by 206.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,444,466 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $278,247,000 after purchasing an additional 973,135 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of General Electric by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 43,322,827 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $8,181,801,000 after purchasing an additional 898,296 shares during the last quarter. 74.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on GE. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of General Electric from $216.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of General Electric in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $250.00 target price on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of General Electric from $235.00 to $228.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of General Electric from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of General Electric from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Electric has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.31.

General Electric Stock Performance

NYSE:GE opened at $202.61 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $192.06 and a 200-day moving average of $182.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $217.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. General Electric has a twelve month low of $126.78 and a twelve month high of $212.19.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that General Electric will post 5.4 EPS for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. This is a positive change from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. General Electric’s payout ratio is currently 24.04%.

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.