Invesco Ltd. Increases Stock Position in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE - Free Report) by 14.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,544,757 shares of the conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 1,204,910 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned approximately 0.89% of General Electric worth $1,591,970,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC increased its holdings in General Electric by 133.3% during the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the period. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new stake in General Electric during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of General Electric during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in General Electric during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Electric in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup cut their price target 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of General Electric from $235.00 to $228.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. UBS Group boosted their price target on General Electric from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on General Electric from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of General Electric in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $250.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $212.73.

General Electric Stock Performance

Shares of General Electric stock traded down $5.12 on Thursday, hitting $182.15. The stock had a trading volume of 4,637,884 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,474,490. The company's 50 day moving average price is $199.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $186.70. General Electric has a 52-week low of $146.78 and a 52-week high of $214.21. The stock has a market cap of $195.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88.

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

General Electric Increases Dividend

The company 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 $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.79%. This is a positive change from General Electric's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. General Electric's dividend 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.