National Bank of Canada FI Raises Position in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in General Electric (NYSE:GE - Free Report) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,064,417 shares of the conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 29,844 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI owned 0.10% of General Electric worth $177,535,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in General Electric by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 89,815,318 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $14,980,297,000 after acquiring an additional 410,172 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in General Electric by 2.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 43,322,827 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $8,181,801,000 after purchasing an additional 898,296 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of General Electric by 0.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 22,587,961 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $4,244,676,000 after purchasing an additional 156,272 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of General Electric in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,375,439,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in General Electric by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 7,878,650 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,314,080,000 after buying an additional 106,891 shares during the period. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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General Electric Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GE traded down $12.13 during trading on Thursday, hitting $187.64. 9,824,044 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,445,905. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $202.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $187.12. 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 company has a market cap of $201.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.49, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.19. General Electric has a 1 year low of $138.01 and a 1 year high of $214.21.

General Electric (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report) last announced 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 net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 22.19%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that General Electric will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This is a boost from General Electric's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. General Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on GE. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of General Electric from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on General Electric in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. They set a "buy" rating and a $250.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of General Electric in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on General Electric from $216.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of General Electric from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $211.31.

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.