May Hill Capital LLC Purchases New Holdings in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

May Hill Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,735 shares of the conglomerate's stock, valued at approximately $289,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Erste Asset Management GmbH acquired a new position in shares of General Electric in the third quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Paloma Partners Management Co acquired a new position in General Electric in the 3rd quarter worth $270,000. Atom Investors LP increased its holdings in General Electric by 103.2% during the 3rd quarter. Atom Investors LP now owns 11,340 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $2,138,000 after purchasing an additional 5,759 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of General Electric by 1,025.1% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 15,403 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $2,905,000 after purchasing an additional 14,034 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of General Electric during the third quarter worth about $209,000. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

General Electric Stock Performance

General Electric stock traded down $20.87 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $166.76. 18,160,091 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,400,110. The stock has a market cap of $178.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.04. 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $201.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $187.07. General Electric has a fifty-two week low of $146.78 and a fifty-two week high of $214.21.

General Electric (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, research analysts expect that General Electric will post 5.4 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. This is an increase from General Electric's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. General Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.04%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GE. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of General Electric in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of General Electric in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $250.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of General Electric from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a 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 company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of General Electric from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $214.73.

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.