Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Sells 23,275 Shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lessened its holdings in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 6.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 327,823 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 23,275 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in General Electric were worth $41,840,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in GE. Dakota Wealth Management raised its holdings in General Electric by 163.4% in the third quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 5,577 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $617,000 after purchasing an additional 3,460 shares during the period. Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in General Electric by 7.0% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 595,259 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $65,806,000 after acquiring an additional 39,046 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. grew its stake in General Electric by 7.6% in the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 15,613 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,726,000 after acquiring an additional 1,101 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Electric by 35.7% in the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,342 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $480,000 after acquiring an additional 1,143 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of General Electric by 13.6% during the third quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 11,095 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,227,000 after purchasing an additional 1,330 shares during the period. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

General Electric Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of General Electric stock traded up $1.47 on Friday, reaching $164.11. 3,968,626 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,987,890. The company has a market capitalization of $179.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.81, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. General Electric has a one year low of $77.93 and a one year high of $166.26. The company has a 50-day moving average of $161.72 and a 200 day moving average of $137.50.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.25 billion. General Electric had a net margin of 5.05% and a return on equity of 12.54%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.27 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that General Electric will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th were paid a $0.28 dividend. This is a positive change from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 12th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on GE shares. Citigroup boosted their price objective on General Electric from $120.43 to $186.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of General Electric in a research report on Monday, April 29th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of General Electric from $180.00 to $148.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of General Electric from $190.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Vertical Research began coverage on General Electric in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $160.00 price target on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $172.29.

Insider Activity

In other General Electric news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.87, for a total transaction of $3,195,107.85. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 56,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,153,863.08. 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.

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.