State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Lowers Holdings in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D reduced its holdings in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE - Free Report) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 400,396 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 4,089 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D's holdings in General Electric were worth $66,782,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of General Electric by 2.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 43,322,827 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $8,181,801,000 after purchasing an additional 898,296 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of General Electric by 0.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 22,587,961 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $4,244,676,000 after purchasing an additional 156,272 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of General Electric by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 7,878,650 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,314,080,000 after purchasing an additional 106,891 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of General Electric by 6.7% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 6,556,515 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,236,428,000 after purchasing an additional 413,388 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of General Electric by 12.5% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,106,786 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $774,458,000 after purchasing an additional 457,038 shares during the period. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on GE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on 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 raised their price target on General Electric from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group raised their price target on General Electric from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Citigroup raised their price target on General Electric from $216.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on General Electric from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $211.31.

General Electric Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:GE traded down $1.57 on Thursday, hitting $208.93. 2,967,197 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,420,081. General Electric has a 52 week low of $118.13 and a 52 week high of $212.19. 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 $185.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $180.23. The company has a market cap of $224.24 billion, a PE ratio of 34.88, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.22.

General Electric (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report) last released 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 return on equity of 22.19% and a net margin of 14.31%. As a group, research analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. This is a boost from General Electric's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. General Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.70%.

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.