Banco Santander S.A. Has $861,000 Stake in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Banco Santander S.A. increased its holdings in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 25.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,906 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 992 shares during the quarter. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in General Electric were worth $861,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in General Electric by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 88,444,222 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $11,288,136,000 after purchasing an additional 550,996 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of General Electric in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,193,159,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its position in shares of General Electric by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 6,655,053 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $849,385,000 after purchasing an additional 426,794 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of General Electric by 42.5% in the first quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 5,778,771 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,014,348,000 after purchasing an additional 1,722,597 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. increased its position in General Electric by 62.3% during the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 4,881,752 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $623,058,000 after acquiring an additional 1,873,327 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on GE. TD Cowen raised shares of General Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $175.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of General Electric from $148.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of General Electric from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of General Electric from $195.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of General Electric from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $181.93.

General Electric Price Performance

Shares of GE traded up $0.34 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $159.13. The company had a trading volume of 5,459,798 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,369,551. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $161.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $155.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.17. General Electric has a 1-year low of $84.42 and a 1-year high of $170.80. The company has a market capitalization of $174.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.21.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.25 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.27 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that General Electric will post 4.02 EPS for the current year.

General Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 11th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. General Electric’s payout ratio is 36.72%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Electric news, SVP Russell Stokes sold 45,309 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.82, for a total transaction of $7,377,211.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 112,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,391,821.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

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.