General Electric (NYSE:GE) Stock Holdings Lessened by Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD reduced its stake in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE - Free Report) by 12.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 23,638,799 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 3,234,657 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned approximately 2.20% of General Electric worth $3,942,716,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GE. Norges Bank bought a new position in General Electric in the 4th quarter worth $2,375,439,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of General Electric by 14.4% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,544,757 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,591,970,000 after buying an additional 1,204,910 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of General Electric in the fourth quarter valued at about $194,208,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of General Electric by 206.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,444,466 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $278,247,000 after buying an additional 973,135 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC grew its position in General Electric by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 66,823,968 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $11,145,570,000 after buying an additional 965,012 shares in the last quarter. 74.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Electric Trading Up 6.2 %

GE stock opened at $189.49 on Wednesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $203.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.04. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $195.11 and a 200 day moving average price of $186.48. General Electric has a fifty-two week low of $150.20 and a fifty-two week high of $214.21.

General Electric (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.20. General Electric had a return on equity of 22.19% and a net margin of 14.31%. The business had revenue of $9.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.06 billion. Analysts expect that General Electric will post 5.4 EPS 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. Stockholders 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 0.76%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. General Electric's dividend payout ratio is 24.04%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on GE shares. UBS Group raised their price objective on General Electric from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of General Electric from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Northcoast Research raised shares of General Electric from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $205.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of General Electric from $235.00 to $227.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of General Electric from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Electric currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $213.33.

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.

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