Franklin Resources Inc. Cuts Stock Position in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Franklin Resources Inc. decreased its position in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE - Free Report) by 14.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,238,099 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 206,367 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned about 0.12% of General Electric worth $206,503,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in shares of General Electric in the third quarter worth $53,000. Paloma Partners Management Co acquired a new position in General Electric during the 3rd quarter worth $270,000. Atom Investors LP raised its position in General Electric by 103.2% in the 3rd quarter. Atom Investors LP now owns 11,340 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $2,138,000 after purchasing an additional 5,759 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its stake in shares of General Electric by 1,025.1% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 15,403 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $2,905,000 after buying an additional 14,034 shares during the period. Finally, Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of General Electric during the third quarter worth about $209,000. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group lifted their price target 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. Citigroup lifted their price objective 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on General Electric from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Bank of America raised their price target on General Electric from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Northcoast Research assumed coverage on General Electric in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a "neutral" rating for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $211.31.

Remove Ads

General Electric Stock Performance

Shares of GE stock traded down $12.47 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $187.30. The stock had a trading volume of 12,747,869 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,455,379. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $201.03 billion, a PE ratio of 31.27, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.19. The stock's 50 day moving average is $202.43 and its 200 day moving average is $187.12. General Electric has a twelve month low of $138.01 and a twelve month high of $214.21.

General Electric (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.32 EPS 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, research analysts forecast that General Electric will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. This is a positive change from General Electric's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. General Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.