KBC Group NV Acquires 83,053 Shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE)

KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE - Free Report) by 96.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 168,735 shares of the conglomerate's stock after acquiring an additional 83,053 shares during the quarter. KBC Group NV's holdings in General Electric were worth $31,820,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in General Electric by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 485,225 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $91,504,000 after acquiring an additional 33,137 shares during the last quarter. Bouvel Investment Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of General Electric by 0.4% during the third quarter. Bouvel Investment Partners LLC now owns 24,381 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $4,598,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. Freemont Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of General Electric by 37.8% in the third quarter. Freemont Management S.A. now owns 6,100 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,150,000 after acquiring an additional 1,673 shares in the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd increased its position in shares of General Electric by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 29,985 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $5,649,000 after purchasing an additional 186 shares during the period. Finally, Cable Hill Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of General Electric by 14.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cable Hill Partners LLC now owns 1,684 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $318,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.77% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on GE shares. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on General Electric from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of General Electric from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their target price on shares of General Electric from $212.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of General Electric from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Melius Research boosted their target price on shares of General Electric from $194.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $200.93.

General Electric Stock Performance

Shares of GE traded down $1.51 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $176.89. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,295,442 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,243,640. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $181.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $170.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.85. General Electric has a 52-week low of $93.05 and a 52-week high of $194.80. The company has a market cap of $191.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.09, a PEG ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.19.

General Electric (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $9.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.02 billion. General Electric had a return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 11.48%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.82 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that General Electric will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 26th were paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. General Electric's dividend payout ratio is presently 19.68%.

Insider Transactions at General Electric

In other news, SVP Riccardo Procacci sold 7,000 shares of General Electric stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.13, for a total value of $1,267,910.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,407,036.57. The trade was a 34.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.66% of the company's stock.

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.