General Electric (NYSE:GE) Shares Purchased by Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 11,826 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in General Electric were worth $1,972,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Toth Financial Advisory Corp purchased a new stake in General Electric in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. purchased a new stake in General Electric in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in General Electric in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC purchased a new stake in General Electric in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in General Electric in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GE. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of General Electric from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of General Electric in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of General Electric from $201.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of General Electric from $216.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of General Electric from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $208.73.

Insider Activity at General Electric

In other news, SVP Russell Stokes sold 15,550 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.29, for a total value of $2,772,409.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 148,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,539,714.53. This represents a 9.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.66% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

General Electric Stock Up 0.0 %

GE stock opened at $205.33 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $179.68 and its 200 day moving average price is $178.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.09. General Electric has a fifty-two week low of $110.95 and a fifty-two week high of $207.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $220.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.28, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.22.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 22.19% and a net margin of 14.31%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that General Electric will post 5.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.70%.

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.