Main Street Financial Solutions LLC Raises Stock Holdings in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Main Street Financial Solutions LLC increased its stake in General Electric (NYSE:GE - Free Report) by 142.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,535 shares of the conglomerate's stock after purchasing an additional 2,663 shares during the quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC's holdings in General Electric were worth $756,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GE. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of General Electric by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 89,815,318 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $14,980,297,000 after purchasing an additional 410,172 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of General Electric by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 66,823,968 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $11,145,570,000 after buying an additional 965,012 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Electric by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 23,117,418 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $3,846,587,000 after acquiring an additional 529,457 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in General Electric in the fourth quarter valued at $2,375,439,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 1,204,910 shares in the last quarter. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on General Electric in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. They set a "buy" rating and a $250.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of General Electric from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of General Electric from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group boosted their target price on General Electric from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on General Electric from $235.00 to $227.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $213.33.

General Electric Stock Down 2.2 %

GE traded down $3.91 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $177.88. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,832,524 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,423,336. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $190.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.70, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.04. The stock's 50-day moving average is $196.12 and its 200-day moving average is $186.52. General Electric has a 1 year low of $148.83 and a 1 year high of $214.21.

General Electric (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.32 EPS 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%. As a group, research analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This is an increase from General Electric's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. General Electric's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.04%.

General Electric Company 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.