General Electric (NYSE:GE) Holdings Raised by Arete Wealth Advisors LLC

Arete Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 25.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 7,163 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,460 shares during the quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in General Electric were worth $1,195,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GE. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of General Electric by 133.3% during the 4th quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 147 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 84 shares during the last quarter. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Electric in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in General Electric in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in General Electric during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management grew its position in General Electric by 62.4% in the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 177 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of General Electric in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on General Electric from $235.00 to $228.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of General Electric from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of General Electric from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Northcoast Research initiated coverage on shares of General Electric in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Electric has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.31.

General Electric Stock Performance

Shares of GE opened at $187.30 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $201.03 billion, a PE ratio of 31.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.81. General Electric has a one year low of $146.21 and a one year high of $214.21. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $202.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $187.13.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.27. General Electric had a return on equity of 22.19% and a net margin of 14.31%. As a group, analysts expect that General Electric will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. This is a positive change from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. General Electric’s payout ratio is 24.04%.

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.