Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Boosts Stake in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its holdings in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE - Free Report) by 34.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 76,795 shares of the conglomerate's stock after buying an additional 19,766 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans' holdings in General Electric were worth $14,483,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Toth Financial Advisory Corp bought a new stake in shares of General Electric in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. acquired a new stake in General Electric during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in General Electric in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of General Electric during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Finally, Studio Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of General Electric by 97.5% during the 2nd quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 158 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of General Electric from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Bank of America upped their target price on General Electric from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on shares of General Electric from $212.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. StockNews.com cut shares of General Electric from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Finally, Melius Research boosted their price objective on General Electric from $194.00 to $202.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Electric presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $200.93.

General Electric Trading Up 0.9 %

General Electric stock traded up $1.54 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $179.52. The stock had a trading volume of 644,995 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,175,253. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $182.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $170.96. The stock has a market cap of $194.29 billion, a PE ratio of 31.28, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.19. General Electric has a 52 week low of $94.54 and a 52 week high of $194.80.

General Electric (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $9.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.02 billion. General Electric had a return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 11.48%. General Electric's quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.82 EPS. Analysts forecast that General Electric will post 4.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 26th were given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. General Electric's dividend payout ratio is 19.68%.

Insider Activity at General Electric

In other news, SVP Russell Stokes sold 15,550 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 148,857 shares in the company, valued at $26,539,714.53. This trade represents a 9.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Riccardo Procacci sold 7,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.13, for a total transaction of $1,267,910.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,289 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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. 0.66% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.