Advisors Capital Management LLC Grows Holdings in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Advisors Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE - Free Report) by 559.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 20,376 shares of the conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 17,287 shares during the quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC's holdings in General Electric were worth $3,399,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Electric during the third quarter worth about $3,400,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in General Electric by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,245 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $235,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. increased its position in General Electric by 2.7% during the third quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,098 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,150,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the period. Morse Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in General Electric by 30.2% in the third quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 18,616 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $3,511,000 after buying an additional 4,320 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SkyView Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Electric by 1.9% in the third quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 12,240 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $2,308,000 after acquiring an additional 232 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.77% of the company's stock.

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Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of General Electric from $235.00 to $227.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Northcoast Research upgraded shares of General Electric from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $205.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of General Electric from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on General Electric from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of General Electric in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, General Electric has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $213.33.

General Electric Price Performance

GE stock traded down $0.26 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $185.74. 4,998,296 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,466,825. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $197.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $186.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market cap of $199.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.01, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.04. General Electric has a fifty-two week low of $146.78 and a fifty-two week high of $214.21.

General Electric (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 predict that General Electric will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This is a boost from General Electric's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. General Electric's dividend payout ratio is 24.04%.

General Electric 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.