General Electric (NYSE:GE) Shares Sold by Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI

Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI lessened its position in General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 719,114 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 44,904 shares during the period. General Electric makes up 1.1% of Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI owned 0.07% of General Electric worth $135,611,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of General Electric by 2.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 43,322,827 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $8,181,801,000 after purchasing an additional 898,296 shares during the period. Newport Trust Company LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Electric in the second quarter valued at about $2,613,332,000. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its stake in shares of General Electric by 5.8% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,405,731 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,336,257,000 after purchasing an additional 459,201 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of General Electric by 91.8% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 7,771,759 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,465,598,000 after purchasing an additional 3,719,894 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in General Electric by 6.7% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 6,556,515 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,236,428,000 after acquiring an additional 413,388 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

General Electric Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of GE stock opened at $175.60 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $190.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. General Electric has a fifty-two week low of $94.54 and a fifty-two week high of $194.80. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $182.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $172.16.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.02. General Electric had a net margin of 11.48% and a return on equity of 18.93%. 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 previous year, the company posted $0.82 earnings per share. General Electric’s revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that General Electric will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

General Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 26th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.64%. General Electric’s payout ratio is currently 19.68%.

Insider Transactions at General Electric

In related news, SVP Riccardo Procacci sold 7,000 shares of General Electric stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.13, for a total value of $1,267,910.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 accessible through this link. Also, SVP Russell Stokes sold 15,550 shares of General Electric stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.29, for a total transaction of $2,772,409.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 148,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,539,714.53. This trade represents a 9.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on GE. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of General Electric from $212.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of General Electric from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of General Electric from $223.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of General Electric from $201.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Melius Research lifted their price target on shares of General Electric from $194.00 to $202.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.93.

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.