Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Increases Holdings in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 16.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,267 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 612 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in General Electric were worth $713,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Callan Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in General Electric by 1,430.3% during the fourth quarter. Callan Family Office LLC now owns 17,063 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,846,000 after buying an additional 15,948 shares during the period. Chatham Capital Group Inc. lifted its holdings in General Electric by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Chatham Capital Group Inc. now owns 24,758 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $4,129,000 after buying an additional 960 shares during the period. Welch & Forbes LLC lifted its holdings in General Electric by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Welch & Forbes LLC now owns 46,516 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $7,758,000 after buying an additional 930 shares during the period. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in General Electric by 41.6% during the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 17,323 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,889,000 after buying an additional 5,089 shares during the period. Finally, Candriam S.C.A. lifted its holdings in General Electric by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 145,339 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $24,241,000 after buying an additional 17,556 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on GE. Citigroup upped their target price on General Electric from $216.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Northcoast Research initiated coverage on General Electric in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on General Electric in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $250.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group increased their price objective on General Electric from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on General Electric from $235.00 to $228.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.31.

General Electric Price Performance

NYSE GE opened at $194.08 on Monday. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average price is $193.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $183.20. General Electric has a 1 year low of $130.38 and a 1 year high of $212.19. The company has a market cap of $208.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.40, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.19.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) 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%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that General Electric will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. This is an increase from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.74%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 24.04%.

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.