Hickory Point Bank & Trust Takes $349,000 Position in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Hickory Point Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in General Electric (NYSE:GE) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 2,093 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $349,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GE. Financial Advocates Investment Management lifted its position in General Electric by 8.3% during the third quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 3,720 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $702,000 after buying an additional 286 shares during the period. Stephens Inc. AR lifted its position in General Electric by 5.7% during the third quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 30,587 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $5,768,000 after buying an additional 1,654 shares during the period. Focus Financial Network Inc. lifted its position in General Electric by 7.5% during the third quarter. Focus Financial Network Inc. now owns 4,222 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $796,000 after buying an additional 293 shares during the period. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lifted its position in General Electric by 4.2% during the third quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 1,552 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $293,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the period. Finally, Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC lifted its position in General Electric by 59.7% during the third quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 16,148 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,045,000 after buying an additional 6,038 shares during the period. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America increased their target price on General Electric from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on General Electric in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $250.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on General Electric from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of General Electric in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on General Electric from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.31.

General Electric Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GE opened at $207.22 on Friday. General Electric has a fifty-two week low of $124.08 and a fifty-two week high of $212.19. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $190.24 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $182.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market cap of $222.40 billion, a PE ratio of 34.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.22.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.27. General Electric had a return on equity of 22.19% and a net margin of 14.31%. Sell-side analysts expect that General Electric will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.36 dividend. This is a boost from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. 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.