Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its holdings in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE - Free Report) by 24.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,194,624 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 2,014,359 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.58% of General Electric worth $1,033,201,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of General Electric during the fourth quarter valued at $2,375,439,000. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of General Electric by 14.4% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,544,757 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,591,970,000 after buying an additional 1,204,910 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of General Electric in the fourth quarter worth approximately $194,208,000. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of General Electric by 206.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,444,466 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $278,247,000 after acquiring an additional 973,135 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of General Electric by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 66,823,968 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $11,145,570,000 after acquiring an additional 965,012 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.77% of the company's stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on GE shares. Northcoast Research raised General Electric from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $205.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of General Electric from $235.00 to $227.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of General Electric from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of General Electric from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic started coverage on General Electric in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. They set a "buy" rating and a $250.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $212.73.
View Our Latest Stock Report on General Electric
General Electric Price Performance
NYSE GE traded down $4.42 during trading on Thursday, reaching $182.85. 4,956,560 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,475,632. General Electric has a 1-year low of $146.78 and a 1-year high of $214.21. The company has a market cap of $196.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.04. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $199.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $186.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.09.
General Electric (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.27. General Electric had a return on equity of 22.19% and a net margin of 14.31%. As a group, analysts anticipate that General Electric will post 5.4 EPS for the current year.
General Electric Increases Dividend
The company also recently disclosed 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 represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.79%. This is a boost from General Electric's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. General Electric's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.04%.
About General Electric
(
Free Report)
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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