Empirical Finance LLC Trims Stake in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Empirical Finance LLC decreased its position in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 1.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 37,129 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 500 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in General Electric were worth $6,193,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in GE. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of General Electric by 23.3% in the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 61,090 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $10,189,000 after buying an additional 11,545 shares during the last quarter. Hobart Private Capital LLC bought a new stake in General Electric in the 4th quarter worth about $245,000. Seelaus Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in General Electric by 1.9% in the 4th quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 4,770 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $796,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in General Electric by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 232,266 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $38,740,000 after buying an additional 21,474 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in General Electric by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 22,499 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,753,000 after buying an additional 1,986 shares in the last quarter. 74.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on GE shares. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on General Electric from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on General Electric from $201.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Bank of America boosted their price target on General Electric from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Citigroup boosted their price target on General Electric from $216.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on General Electric from $235.00 to $228.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $208.73.

General Electric Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE GE opened at $205.32 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $179.68 and its 200 day moving average is $177.85. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. General Electric has a 12 month low of $110.57 and a 12 month high of $207.84. The stock has a market cap of $220.37 billion, a PE ratio of 34.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.22.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last posted its quarterly 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%. Research analysts predict that General Electric will post 5.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.55%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.70%.

Insider Transactions at General Electric

In other news, SVP Russell Stokes sold 15,550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.29, for a total transaction of $2,772,409.50. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 148,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,539,714.53. This represents a 9.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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.