Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 91,407 Shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its holdings in General Electric (NYSE:GE - Free Report) by 6.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,232,146 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 91,407 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.11% of General Electric worth $205,510,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Toth Financial Advisory Corp purchased a new position in General Electric in the third quarter worth $25,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. bought a new stake in General Electric during the third quarter worth about $25,000. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in General Electric during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Electric in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of General Electric during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Institutional investors own 74.77% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GE. Northcoast Research started coverage on General Electric in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a "neutral" rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective 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 increased their target price on shares of General Electric from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of General Electric in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $250.00 price target for the company. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of General Electric from $216.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, General Electric presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $211.31.

General Electric Trading Down 4.2 %

Shares of GE stock traded down $8.84 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $199.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,410,517 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,419,847. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. General Electric has a one year low of $119.88 and a one year high of $212.19. The stock has a market capitalization of $214.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 1.22. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $186.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $180.72.

General Electric (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 expect that General Electric will post 5.4 EPS for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.36 dividend. This is a positive change from General Electric's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. General Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.