Merit Financial Group LLC Raises Stock Position in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Merit Financial Group LLC raised its position in General Electric (NYSE:GE - Free Report) by 16.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 30,427 shares of the conglomerate's stock after acquiring an additional 4,298 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in General Electric were worth $5,075,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GE. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in General Electric during the second quarter valued at approximately $556,000. Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of General Electric in the 2nd quarter worth $560,000. ProVise Management Group LLC raised its holdings in General Electric by 18.8% in the 2nd quarter. ProVise Management Group LLC now owns 2,787 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $443,000 after purchasing an additional 442 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in General Electric by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 8,020 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,275,000 after purchasing an additional 106 shares during the period. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC increased its position in General Electric by 4.6% in the second quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 42,347 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $6,732,000 after buying an additional 1,868 shares in the last quarter. 74.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Electric Price Performance

General Electric stock traded up $3.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $182.83. 5,887,078 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,238,171. General Electric has a 12-month low of $101.16 and a 12-month high of $194.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $174.33 and a two-hundred day moving average of $174.08. The company has a market cap of $197.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.13, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.19.

General Electric (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $9.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.02 billion. General Electric had a net margin of 11.48% and a return on equity of 18.93%. The business's revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.82 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that General Electric will post 4.23 earnings per share for the current year.

General Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. General Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.68%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Russell Stokes sold 15,550 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.29, for a total transaction of $2,772,409.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 148,857 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $26,539,714.53. This represents a 9.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Riccardo Procacci sold 7,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,289 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,407,036.57. This represents a 34.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.66% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GE has been the topic of several analyst reports. Melius Research lifted their price target on shares of General Electric from $194.00 to $202.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of General Electric from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on General Electric from $235.00 to $228.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on General Electric from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Northcoast Research initiated coverage on General Electric in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a "neutral" rating for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $201.47.

General Electric 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.