Vest Financial LLC Has $1.57 Million Stock Holdings in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Vest Financial LLC raised its position in General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 15.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,409 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 1,228 shares during the quarter. Vest Financial LLC’s holdings in General Electric were worth $1,569,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in General Electric by 2.1% during the 3rd 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. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of General Electric by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 22,587,961 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,244,676,000 after purchasing an additional 156,272 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in shares of General Electric by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 7,878,650 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,314,080,000 after buying an additional 106,891 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of General Electric by 6.7% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 6,556,515 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,236,428,000 after buying an additional 413,388 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in General Electric by 12.5% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,106,786 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $774,458,000 after buying an additional 457,038 shares during the period. 74.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of General Electric from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on General Electric from $216.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America increased their target price on General Electric from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on General Electric from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Melius Research upped their price target on General Electric from $194.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.73.

General Electric Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GE opened at $205.32 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $179.68 and a 200 day moving average price of $177.85. General Electric has a 1-year low of $110.57 and a 1-year high of $207.84. The firm has a market cap of $220.37 billion, a PE ratio of 34.28, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.22. 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 (NYSE:GE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th were given a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 transaction of $2,772,409.50. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 148,857 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,539,714.53. This represents a 9.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.66% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

General Electric Profile

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.