Principle Wealth Partners LLC Buys 150 Shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Principle Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,566 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 150 shares during the quarter. Principle Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in General Electric were worth $2,625,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GE. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of General Electric by 4.0% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,588,433 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,170,551,000 after buying an additional 410,061 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of General Electric by 5.1% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,955,511 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $990,032,000 after buying an additional 434,736 shares in the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of General Electric in the fourth quarter valued at $520,488,000. Meritage Group LP lifted its stake in shares of General Electric by 3.5% in the third quarter. Meritage Group LP now owns 3,294,044 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $364,157,000 after buying an additional 110,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in shares of General Electric by 1.1% in the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,074,080 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $339,848,000 after buying an additional 32,643 shares in the last quarter. 74.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Electric news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.87, for a total value of $3,195,107.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 56,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,153,863.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other General Electric news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.87, for a total value of $3,195,107.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 56,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,153,863.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 13,601 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total transaction of $1,843,615.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,552,351.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on GE shares. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of General Electric from $120.43 to $186.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of General Electric from $190.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of General Electric from $200.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of General Electric from $195.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded shares of General Electric from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Electric currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $170.00.

General Electric Price Performance

NYSE:GE traded up $1.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $162.35. 5,898,021 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,321,559. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $160.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $136.27. The company has a market cap of $177.71 billion, a PE ratio of 53.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.29. General Electric has a 12-month low of $77.28 and a 12-month high of $163.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.17. The company 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%. General Electric’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.27 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that General Electric will post 3.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th were paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 12th. This is a boost from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. General Electric’s payout ratio is currently 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.