PGGM Investments Trims Stock Position in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

PGGM Investments lessened its stake in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 126,550 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 3,266 shares during the quarter. PGGM Investments’ holdings in General Electric were worth $16,152,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in General Electric by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 370,780 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $47,358,000 after purchasing an additional 37,256 shares during the last quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. raised its position in General Electric by 30.7% in the 4th quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 6,859 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $875,000 after purchasing an additional 1,611 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC raised its position in General Electric by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 2,063 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $263,000 after purchasing an additional 286 shares during the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its position in General Electric by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 10,316 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,317,000 after purchasing an additional 765 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its position in General Electric by 16.9% in the 4th quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 4,507 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $575,000 after purchasing an additional 651 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of General Electric from $190.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of General Electric from $210.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of General Electric from $195.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. TheStreet upgraded shares of General Electric from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of General Electric from $180.00 to $148.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $170.00.

Insider Transactions at General Electric

In other news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of General Electric stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.87, for a total transaction of $3,195,107.85. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 56,284 shares in the company, valued at $8,153,863.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other General Electric news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 13,601 shares of General Electric stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total transaction of $1,843,615.55. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,552,351.45. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of General Electric stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.87, for a total transaction of $3,195,107.85. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 56,284 shares in the company, valued at $8,153,863.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

General Electric Price Performance

NYSE:GE traded up $1.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $162.35. 5,898,021 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,321,559. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.17. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $160.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $136.27. General Electric has a 1 year low of $77.28 and a 1 year high of $163.65. The company has a market cap of $177.71 billion, a PE ratio of 53.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.29.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.17. General Electric had a net margin of 5.05% and a return on equity of 12.54%. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.25 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.27 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that General Electric will post 3.93 EPS for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 12th. This is an increase from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. General Electric’s payout ratio is 36.72%.

General Electric Company 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.