Maple Capital Management Inc. Acquires 48,693 Shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Maple Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 2,420.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 50,705 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 48,693 shares during the quarter. Maple Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in General Electric were worth $8,457,000 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. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of General Electric during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in General Electric in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in General Electric during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC acquired a new stake in General Electric during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Costello Asset Management INC increased its holdings in General Electric by 92.0% in the 3rd quarter. Costello Asset Management INC now owns 167 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 80 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on GE. UBS Group upped their price target 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. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of General Electric in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Bank of America raised their target price on General Electric from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on General Electric in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $250.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on General Electric from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.31.

General Electric Stock Performance

Shares of GE stock opened at $207.22 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $222.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.59, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $190.24 and its 200-day moving average price is $182.00. General Electric has a 12 month low of $124.08 and a 12 month high of $212.19.

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

General Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. 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 Company 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.