Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. Buys 772 Shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. raised its stake in General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 5.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,541 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 772 shares during the quarter. General Electric comprises 1.2% of Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest position. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc.’s holdings in General Electric were worth $2,552,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in General Electric by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 88,444,222 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $11,288,136,000 after purchasing an additional 550,996 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in General Electric during the 4th quarter worth $1,193,159,000. Morgan Stanley lifted its holdings in shares of General Electric by 5.1% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,955,511 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $990,032,000 after buying an additional 434,736 shares in the last quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its position in shares of General Electric by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 6,655,053 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $849,385,000 after acquiring an additional 426,794 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. grew its stake in shares of General Electric by 62.3% in the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 4,881,752 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $623,058,000 after acquiring an additional 1,873,327 shares in the last quarter. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on GE. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of General Electric from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of General Electric from $165.00 to $192.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Argus upped their price target on shares of General Electric from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of General Electric from $191.00 to $201.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 23rd. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of General Electric in a research note on Monday, April 29th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $181.36.

Insider Activity at General Electric

In related news, SVP Russell Stokes sold 45,309 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.82, for a total value of $7,377,211.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 112,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,391,821.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.66% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

General Electric Price Performance

Shares of GE stock traded down $1.53 on Friday, reaching $158.97. The company had a trading volume of 8,641,197 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,007,353. The stock has a market capitalization of $174.01 billion, a PE ratio of 52.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. General Electric has a one year low of $84.42 and a one year high of $170.80. The business’s 50-day moving average is $162.36 and its 200 day moving average is $151.37.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.25 billion. General Electric had a net margin of 5.05% and a return on equity of 12.54%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.27 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that General Electric will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 11th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 11th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.72%.

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.