Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt Grows Position in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt boosted its stake in General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 52.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 2,105 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 725 shares during the quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt’s holdings in General Electric were worth $269,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GE. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in General Electric by 122,242.2% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,438,063 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $878,644,000 after purchasing an additional 13,427,079 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in General Electric in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $635,274,000. State Street Corp lifted its position in General Electric by 17.3% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 48,490,012 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,639,533,000 after buying an additional 7,157,356 shares in the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in General Electric during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $520,488,000. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its position in General Electric by 265.7% during the third quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 3,008,425 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $332,581,000 after buying an additional 2,185,793 shares in the last quarter. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Electric Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:GE traded up $1.57 during trading on Thursday, hitting $157.24. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 582,691 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,904,617. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $158.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $133.96. General Electric has a fifty-two week low of $76.87 and a fifty-two week high of $158.68. The company has a market capitalization of $171.91 billion, a PE ratio of 18.60, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.18.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. General Electric had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 13.95%. The firm had revenue of $19.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.24 earnings per share. General Electric’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that General Electric will post 3.78 EPS for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. This is a boost from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.38%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GE. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of General Electric from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. TD Cowen raised shares of General Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $175.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Vertical Research began coverage on shares of General Electric in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $160.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of General Electric in a research report on Saturday, April 13th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of General Electric from $195.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $160.07.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Electric

In other General Electric news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 13,601 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total transaction of $1,843,615.55. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 48,339 shares in the company, valued at $6,552,351.45. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other General Electric news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 13,601 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total transaction of $1,843,615.55. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 48,339 shares in the company, valued at $6,552,351.45. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.87, for a total value of $3,195,107.85. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 56,284 shares in the company, valued at $8,153,863.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.66% of the stock is currently owned by 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.