Blair William & Co. IL Buys 6,918 Shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Blair William & Co. IL raised its stake in General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 189,437 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,918 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in General Electric were worth $31,596,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in GE. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new position in General Electric in the third quarter valued at $30,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Electric in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of General Electric during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Electric during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management lifted its position in General Electric by 62.4% in the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 177 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on GE shares. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of General Electric from $216.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Northcoast Research initiated coverage on shares of General Electric in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Bank of America raised their price objective on General Electric from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on General Electric from $235.00 to $228.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on General Electric from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, General Electric has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.31.

General Electric Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE:GE opened at $206.11 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $201.18 and a 200-day moving average price of $186.12. The stock has a market cap of $221.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.81 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.27. General Electric had a return on equity of 22.19% and a net margin of 14.31%. Equities analysts predict that General Electric will post 5.4 EPS 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 given a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. This is a positive change from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.