Wellington Management Group LLP Sells 548,496 Shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Wellington Management Group LLP decreased its holdings in General Electric (NYSE:GE - Free Report) by 18.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,499,199 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 548,496 shares during the quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP owned 0.23% of General Electric worth $416,841,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in General Electric by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 89,815,318 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $14,980,297,000 after buying an additional 410,172 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of General Electric by 2.1% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Electric by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 22,587,961 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $4,244,676,000 after purchasing an additional 156,272 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of General Electric during the 4th quarter worth about $2,375,439,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in General Electric by 1.4% during the 4th 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 last quarter. 74.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of 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 company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on General Electric from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on General Electric in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $250.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of General Electric from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $211.31.

General Electric Trading Down 11.1 %

NYSE GE traded down $20.87 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $166.76. The company's stock had a trading volume of 18,160,091 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,437,702. General Electric has a twelve month low of $146.78 and a twelve month high of $214.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $178.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.84, a PEG 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 fifty day moving average of $201.56 and a 200 day moving average of $187.02.

General Electric (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.27. General Electric had a return on equity of 22.19% and a net margin of 14.31%. Equities research analysts forecast that General Electric will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This is a positive change from General Electric's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. General Electric's payout ratio is presently 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.