Greenleaf Trust Buys 452 Shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Greenleaf Trust raised its stake in General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 20,190 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 452 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust’s holdings in General Electric were worth $2,577,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GE. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Electric by 122,242.2% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,438,063 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $878,644,000 after buying an additional 13,427,079 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of General Electric during the 4th quarter valued at $635,274,000. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of General Electric by 17.3% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 48,490,012 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,639,533,000 after purchasing an additional 7,157,356 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of General Electric during the 4th quarter valued at $520,488,000. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in shares of General Electric by 265.7% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 3,008,425 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $332,581,000 after purchasing an additional 2,185,793 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

General Electric Trading Down 3.2 %

NYSE:GE opened at $148.09 on Friday. General Electric has a 12 month low of $76.87 and a 12 month high of $158.68. The stock has a market cap of $161.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.69, a P/E/G ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $159.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $134.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. General Electric had a net margin of 13.95% and a return on equity of 10.88%. The company had revenue of $19.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.27 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.24 EPS. General Electric’s revenue was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that General Electric will post 3.78 EPS for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 25th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is a boost from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.38%.

Insider Activity at General Electric

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on GE. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of General Electric from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 8th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of General Electric from $210.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of General Electric from $200.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of General Electric in a report on Saturday, April 13th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of General Electric in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $190.00 price target on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $160.07.

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.