Verus Financial Partners Inc. Sells 85 Shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Verus Financial Partners Inc. decreased its holdings in General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,797 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 85 shares during the period. Verus Financial Partners Inc.’s holdings in General Electric were worth $236,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC lifted its stake in General Electric by 57.3% in the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 11,957 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,526,000 after purchasing an additional 4,354 shares during the last quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in General Electric in the 4th quarter worth about $214,000. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of General Electric by 61.3% during the fourth quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 3,727 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $476,000 after acquiring an additional 1,416 shares in the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in General Electric by 61.6% in the fourth quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,327 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,084,000 after purchasing an additional 6,221 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lincoln National Corp increased its holdings in General Electric by 14.8% during the 4th quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 17,053 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,177,000 after purchasing an additional 2,193 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on GE. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of General Electric from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on General Electric from $210.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Vertical Research started coverage on shares of General Electric in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $160.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen upgraded shares of General Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $175.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of General Electric in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $172.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other General Electric news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 56,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,153,863.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.66% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

General Electric Stock Performance

General Electric stock traded down $1.56 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $167.30. The company had a trading volume of 1,905,629 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,769,157. The company has a market capitalization of $183.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.25. General Electric has a 12-month low of $78.17 and a 12-month high of $170.80. The company’s fifty day moving average is $162.49 and its 200-day moving average is $139.17. 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 (NYSE:GE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.25 billion. General Electric had a net margin of 5.05% and a return on equity of 12.54%. The firm’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. Equities research analysts predict that General Electric will post 3.96 EPS for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th were given a $0.28 dividend. This is a positive change from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 12th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.72%.

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.