General Electric (NYSE:GE) Shares Bought by Nicolet Advisory Services LLC

Nicolet Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 9.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 4,821 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 412 shares during the quarter. Nicolet Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in General Electric were worth $828,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in General Electric during the fourth quarter worth about $2,375,439,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of General Electric during the 4th quarter worth about $194,208,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of General Electric by 206.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,444,466 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $278,247,000 after acquiring an additional 973,135 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in General Electric by 2.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 43,322,827 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $8,181,801,000 after purchasing an additional 898,296 shares during the period. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its position in General Electric by 15,750.4% during the fourth quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 768,588 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $138,368,000 after purchasing an additional 763,739 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on GE shares. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of General Electric from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of General Electric from $235.00 to $228.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of General Electric from $200.00 to $225.00 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 report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on General Electric from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.31.

General Electric Trading Down 6.2 %

Shares of GE opened at $187.30 on Friday. General Electric has a one year low of $146.21 and a one year high of $214.21. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $202.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $187.13. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.09. The company has a market capitalization of $201.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.19.

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

General Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.77%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This is a positive change from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is 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.