Prudential Financial Inc. Acquires 586,045 Shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Prudential Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE - Free Report) by 74.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,369,932 shares of the conglomerate's stock after acquiring an additional 586,045 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. owned about 0.13% of General Electric worth $228,491,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new stake in General Electric during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Electric during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Electric during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in General Electric in the third quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management increased its stake in General Electric by 62.4% in the fourth quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 177 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.77% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GE has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on General Electric from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Northcoast Research began coverage on General Electric in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a "neutral" rating for the company. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of General Electric from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of General Electric in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $250.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of General Electric from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $211.31.

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General Electric Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of GE stock traded up $1.95 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $212.18. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,314,312 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,346,589. The stock has a market capitalization of $227.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.19. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $200.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $185.83. General Electric has a one year low of $133.99 and a one year high of $212.19. 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 (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. This is a boost from General Electric's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. General Electric's payout ratio is presently 24.04%.

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.