PFG Advisors Reduces Stock Position in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

PFG Advisors lowered its stake in General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 5,861 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 166 shares during the period. PFG Advisors’ holdings in General Electric were worth $978,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in General Electric in the fourth quarter worth approximately $733,000. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC bought a new position in General Electric in the fourth quarter worth approximately $795,000. State Street Corp raised its position in General Electric by 2.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 43,322,827 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $8,181,801,000 after acquiring an additional 898,296 shares during the period. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in General Electric by 269.8% in the third quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 28,201 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $5,318,000 after acquiring an additional 20,575 shares during the period. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in General Electric by 60.7% in the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,662 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,576,000 after acquiring an additional 5,162 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on GE. Wells Fargo & Company increased 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. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of General Electric from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of General Electric from $235.00 to $228.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of General Electric from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of General Electric from $216.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Electric presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.31.

General Electric Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GE opened at $192.28 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.09. The company has a market cap of $206.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.10, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.19. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $195.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $183.64. General Electric has a 52-week low of $131.91 and a 52-week high of $212.19.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.27. General Electric had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 22.19%. As a group, analysts anticipate that General Electric will post 5.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.36 dividend. This is an increase from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. General Electric’s payout ratio is currently 24.04%.

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.