Norinchukin Bank The Grows Stake in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Norinchukin Bank The raised its stake in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE - Free Report) by 10.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 50,536 shares of the conglomerate's stock after buying an additional 4,953 shares during the quarter. Norinchukin Bank The's holdings in General Electric were worth $8,429,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in General Electric in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,375,439,000. Invesco Ltd. raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,204,910 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of General Electric during the fourth quarter valued at $194,208,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position 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 buying an additional 973,135 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC boosted its position in shares of General Electric by 1.5% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. 74.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on GE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of General Electric from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of General Electric from $203.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of General Electric in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $250.00 target price for the company. UBS Group increased their price target on General Electric from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of General Electric in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $213.33.

General Electric Price Performance

NYSE:GE traded down $0.57 on Friday, reaching $181.88. 4,927,432 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,436,847. The firm has a market cap of $195.21 billion, a PE ratio of 30.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $196.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $186.52. General Electric has a 12 month low of $148.83 and a 12 month high of $214.21.

General Electric (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.27. General Electric had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 22.19%. Equities research analysts forecast that General Electric will post 5.4 earnings per share 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 issued a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend 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 payout ratio is 24.04%.

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.