B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Acquires 9,393 Shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE)

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG boosted its holdings in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 26.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 45,383 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,393 shares during the quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG’s holdings in General Electric were worth $7,569,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Electric during the fourth quarter valued at about $733,000. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC bought a new position in General Electric during the fourth quarter valued at about $795,000. State Street Corp raised its holdings in General Electric by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 43,322,827 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $8,181,801,000 after acquiring an additional 898,296 shares in the last quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Electric by 269.8% during the 3rd quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 28,201 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $5,318,000 after purchasing an additional 20,575 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of General Electric by 60.7% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,662 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,576,000 after purchasing an additional 5,162 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

General Electric Stock Performance

General Electric stock opened at $200.29 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $201.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $186.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $214.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. General Electric has a 12-month low of $133.99 and a 12-month high of $214.21.

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

General Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.36 dividend. This is a positive change from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GE has been the subject of several research reports. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on General Electric in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $250.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of General Electric in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Northcoast Research started coverage on shares of General Electric in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Citigroup lifted their price objective on General Electric from $216.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on General Electric from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.31.

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.