Franklin Resources Inc. Has $206.50 Million Holdings in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Franklin Resources Inc. lowered its stake in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE - Free Report) by 14.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,238,099 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 206,367 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.12% of General Electric worth $206,503,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GE. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Electric by 133.3% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in General Electric in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in General Electric during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in General Electric during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management increased its holdings in General Electric by 62.4% in the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 177 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the period. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GE has been the topic of several recent research reports. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of General Electric from $216.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group upped their price objective on General Electric from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on General Electric from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on General Electric from $235.00 to $228.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on General Electric from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Electric has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $214.73.

General Electric Trading Down 11.1 %

GE traded down $20.87 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $166.76. The stock had a trading volume of 18,160,091 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,400,110. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $201.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $187.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $178.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.04. General Electric has a 52 week low of $146.78 and a 52 week high of $214.21. 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 - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, equities analysts predict that General Electric will post 5.4 EPS for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. This is an increase from General Electric's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. General Electric's payout ratio is 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.