General Electric (NYSE:GE) Shares Bought by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 3.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,323,553 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 48,543 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in General Electric were worth $249,596,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GE. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of General Electric by 2.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 43,322,827 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $8,181,801,000 after purchasing an additional 898,296 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in General Electric by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 22,587,961 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $4,244,676,000 after purchasing an additional 156,272 shares during the last quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Electric during the second quarter worth $2,613,332,000. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of General Electric by 5.8% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,405,731 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,336,257,000 after buying an additional 459,201 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of General Electric by 91.8% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 7,771,759 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,465,598,000 after buying an additional 3,719,894 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

General Electric Stock Performance

NYSE:GE opened at $164.80 on Friday. General Electric has a fifty-two week low of $98.58 and a fifty-two week high of $194.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.13. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $178.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $172.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $178.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.96, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.17.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $9.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.02 billion. General Electric had a return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 11.48%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.82 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that General Electric will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

General Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.68%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.68%.

Insider Transactions at General Electric

In other news, SVP Riccardo Procacci sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.13, for a total transaction of $1,267,910.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,407,036.57. This represents a 34.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Russell Stokes sold 15,550 shares of General Electric stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.29, for a total value of $2,772,409.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 148,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,539,714.53. This trade represents a 9.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of General Electric from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on General Electric from $212.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on General Electric from $223.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on General Electric from $201.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Melius Research lifted their price target on General Electric from $194.00 to $202.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Electric has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.93.

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.