Howard Financial Services LTD. Purchases Shares of 1,550 General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Howard Financial Services LTD. acquired a new stake in General Electric (NYSE:GE) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 1,550 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $259,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Verity & Verity LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Electric in the fourth quarter valued at $209,000. Arkadios Wealth Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of General Electric by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 6,411 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,069,000 after buying an additional 388 shares during the period. TrueWealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in General Electric in the 4th quarter valued at about $545,000. Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC raised its holdings in General Electric by 5.6% in the 4th quarter. Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC now owns 3,965 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $661,000 after acquiring an additional 210 shares during the period. Finally, Sax Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Electric by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 6,194 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,033,000 after acquiring an additional 966 shares during the period. 74.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

General Electric Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of General Electric stock opened at $182.83 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $174.38 and its 200 day moving average is $173.83. General Electric has a one year low of $101.16 and a one year high of $194.80. The firm has a market cap of $197.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.13, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.02. General Electric had a return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 11.48%. The firm had revenue of $9.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.82 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that General Electric will post 4.23 EPS for the current year.

General Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. General Electric’s payout ratio is 19.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Riccardo Procacci sold 7,000 shares of General Electric stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.13, for a total transaction of $1,267,910.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,407,036.57. The trade was a 34.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Russell Stokes sold 15,550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.29, for a total value of $2,772,409.50. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 148,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,539,714.53. This trade represents a 9.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.66% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America lifted their price target on General Electric from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on shares of General Electric from $201.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on shares of General Electric from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Northcoast Research started coverage on shares of General Electric in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of General Electric from $223.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.47.

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.