Farmers Trust Co. Decreases Stake in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Farmers Trust Co. trimmed its holdings in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,885 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 273 shares during the quarter. Farmers Trust Co.’s holdings in General Electric were worth $1,315,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of General Electric by 117.7% during the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 270 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its holdings in General Electric by 10.5% during the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 603,988 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $96,016,000 after acquiring an additional 57,372 shares in the last quarter. Marietta Investment Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Electric in the 2nd quarter worth about $1,569,000. State Street Corp lifted 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Soltis Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in General Electric by 269.8% in the third quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 28,201 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $5,318,000 after purchasing an additional 20,575 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Russell Stokes sold 15,550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.29, for a total value of $2,772,409.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 148,857 shares in the company, valued at $26,539,714.53. This represents a 9.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Riccardo Procacci sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,407,036.57. The trade was a 34.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

General Electric Price Performance

Shares of General Electric stock traded up $0.63 on Wednesday, hitting $172.94. The company had a trading volume of 2,601,097 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,418,319. General Electric has a 52 week low of $100.95 and a 52 week high of $194.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a market cap of $187.17 billion, a PE ratio of 30.39, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.19. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $174.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $173.28.

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

General Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GE has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America lifted their target price on General Electric from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of General Electric from $198.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Northcoast Research initiated coverage on shares of General Electric in a research report on Tuesday. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of General Electric from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Melius Research upped their target price on General Electric from $194.00 to $202.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.47.

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.