Atika Capital Management LLC Sells 59,800 Shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Atika Capital Management LLC cut its stake in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 52.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 55,200 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 59,800 shares during the period. General Electric comprises 1.0% of Atika Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Atika Capital Management LLC’s holdings in General Electric were worth $9,207,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in General Electric by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 89,815,318 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $14,980,297,000 after buying an additional 410,172 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in General Electric by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 23,117,418 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,846,587,000 after buying an additional 529,457 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of General Electric during the 4th quarter valued at $2,375,439,000. Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in General Electric by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 7,878,650 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,314,080,000 after purchasing an additional 106,891 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in General Electric by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,766,421 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,128,571,000 after purchasing an additional 115,257 shares during the last quarter. 74.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GE. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on General Electric in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $250.00 price objective on the stock. Northcoast Research assumed coverage on General Electric in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price objective on General Electric from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of General Electric from $216.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of General Electric from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $214.73.

General Electric Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GE opened at $166.76 on Friday. General Electric has a 1 year low of $146.78 and a 1 year high of $214.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $178.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.04. The company’s 50-day moving average is $201.56 and its 200 day moving average is $187.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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, sell-side analysts expect that General Electric will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is 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.