Marietta Investment Partners LLC Has $791,000 Stake in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Marietta Investment Partners LLC trimmed its stake in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 56.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,742 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 6,169 shares during the period. Marietta Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in General Electric were worth $791,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of General Electric by 450.0% during the fourth quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,980 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $330,000 after acquiring an additional 1,620 shares in the last quarter. Intellus Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in General Electric in the fourth quarter valued at $402,000. Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in shares of General Electric by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,049,868 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $175,106,000 after buying an additional 3,840 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of General Electric by 51.8% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 299,935 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $50,026,000 after buying an additional 102,319 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its holdings in General Electric by 45.9% in the 4th quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 102,577 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $17,109,000 after purchasing an additional 32,265 shares during the period. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on GE shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective on General Electric from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Northcoast Research initiated coverage on General Electric in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on General Electric from $235.00 to $228.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on General Electric from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of General Electric in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, General Electric presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.31.

General Electric Stock Performance

GE stock opened at $203.99 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $198.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $184.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $218.94 billion, a PE ratio of 34.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. General Electric has a 12-month low of $133.99 and a 12-month high of $212.19.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last announced its earnings results 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, research analysts forecast that General Electric will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is a positive change from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.