Piscataqua Savings Bank Lowers Holdings in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Piscataqua Savings Bank lowered its stake in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 3.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,728 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 152 shares during the period. Piscataqua Savings Bank’s holdings in General Electric were worth $519,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. increased its stake in shares of General Electric by 808.1% during the first quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 336 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. Syverson Strege & Co raised its position in shares of General Electric by 53.6% in the first quarter. Syverson Strege & Co now owns 338 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 118 shares during the last quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Electric in the first quarter worth about $34,000. Silicon Valley Capital Partners acquired a new position in shares of General Electric during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Financial Freedom LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Electric in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.83% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Argus boosted their price objective on General Electric from $112.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 26th. StockNews.com lowered shares of General Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of General Electric from $120.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 17th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of General Electric from $126.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on General Electric from $122.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $120.00.

General Electric Price Performance

GE stock opened at $116.56 on Tuesday. General Electric has a 1 year low of $48.06 and a 1 year high of $117.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $126.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.83, a P/E/G ratio of 7.21 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.61, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 0.90. The business’s 50-day moving average is $112.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $104.05.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 25th. The conglomerate reported $0.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.46 by $0.22. General Electric had a net margin of 13.32% and a return on equity of 9.30%. The firm had revenue of $15.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.76 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.78 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 18.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that General Electric will post 2.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 25th. This represents a $0.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.27%. General Electric’s payout ratio is currently 3.80%.

Insider Activity at General Electric

In other General Electric news, major shareholder General Electric Pension Trust acquired 35,160 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 30th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $995.44 per share, with a total value of $34,999,670.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 175,160 shares in the company, valued at approximately $174,361,270.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, major shareholder General Electric Pension Trust bought 35,160 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 30th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $995.44 per share, for a total transaction of $34,999,670.40. Following the acquisition, the insider now owns 175,160 shares in the company, valued at approximately $174,361,270.40. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 112,614 shares of General Electric stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $115.20, for a total transaction of $12,973,132.80. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 57,923 shares in the company, valued at $6,672,729.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.67% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

General Electric Profile

General Electric Company operates as a high-tech industrial company in Europe, China, Asia, the Americas, the Middle East, and Africa. It offers gas and steam turbines, full balance of plant, upgrade, and service solutions, as well as data-leveraging software for power generation, industrial, government, and other customers.