General Electric (NYSE:GE) Shares Sold by Waverton Investment Management Ltd

Waverton Investment Management Ltd decreased its stake in General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 5.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 1,036,530 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 64,191 shares during the quarter. General Electric accounts for approximately 2.8% of Waverton Investment Management Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Waverton Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in General Electric were worth $172,909,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. acquired a new stake in General Electric in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of General Electric during the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Electric in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in General Electric in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Costello Asset Management INC grew its stake in General Electric by 92.0% in the 3rd quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 167 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of General Electric from $216.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on General Electric from $235.00 to $228.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. UBS Group increased their target price on General Electric from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Northcoast Research initiated coverage on General Electric in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on General Electric from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Electric presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.31.

General Electric Trading Down 4.2 %

NYSE GE opened at $199.90 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $214.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.22. General Electric has a 12 month low of $119.88 and a 12 month high of $212.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company has a 50-day moving average of $186.57 and a 200-day moving average of $180.98.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.27. General Electric had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 22.19%. As a group, equities analysts predict that General Electric will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. This is a boost from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 18.70%.

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.