Highland Capital Management LLC Buys 2,879 Shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Highland Capital Management LLC increased its stake in General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 44.5% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,350 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,879 shares during the period. Highland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in General Electric were worth $1,641,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of GE. Halpern Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of General Electric by 968.4% during the fourth quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. now owns 203 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of General Electric during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. CGC Financial Services LLC increased its stake in shares of General Electric by 90.2% during the fourth quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 232 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Capital Analysts LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Electric by 55.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 243 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bfsg LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Electric during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 74.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on GE. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of General Electric from $195.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of General Electric from $190.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Argus increased their price target on shares of General Electric from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of General Electric from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, Vertical Research started coverage on shares of General Electric in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $160.00 target price for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $181.93.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 transaction of $7,377,211.38. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 112,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,391,821.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.66% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

General Electric Price Performance

Shares of GE traded down $2.91 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $159.01. 5,983,394 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,204,116. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $162.59 and a 200-day moving average of $153.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.17. The stock has a market cap of $174.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.13, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.21. General Electric has a 52 week low of $84.42 and a 52 week high of $170.80.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion for 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 was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.27 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that General Electric will post 4.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Announces Dividend

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