General Electric (NYSE:GE) Shares Purchased by Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its position in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 10.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,556 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,096 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in General Electric were worth $1,475,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in General Electric by 29.3% in the fourth quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 28,311 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,613,000 after buying an additional 6,419 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its holdings in General Electric by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 261,187 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $33,335,000 after purchasing an additional 28,985 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its position in General Electric by 10.9% in the third quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 109,332 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $12,087,000 after purchasing an additional 10,722 shares during the period. Grandfield & Dodd LLC lifted its stake in General Electric by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 269,783 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $34,432,000 after purchasing an additional 22,998 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qsemble Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of General Electric during the third quarter worth $1,846,000. 74.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of General Electric from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on General Electric from $180.00 to $148.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Argus boosted their price objective on General Electric from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on General Electric from $165.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of General Electric in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Two research 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 presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $172.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Electric

In other news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $8,153,863.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.66% of the stock is owned by insiders.

General Electric Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:GE opened at $164.11 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $161.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $138.30. The firm has a market cap of $179.64 billion, a PE ratio of 53.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.25. General Electric has a 12-month low of $77.93 and a 12-month high of $166.26.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.17. General Electric had a net margin of 5.05% and a return on equity of 12.54%. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.27 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that General Electric will post 3.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is a positive change from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 12th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. General Electric’s payout ratio is presently 36.72%.

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.