Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund Reduces Holdings in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund lowered its holdings in General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 26.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 160,765 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 57,100 shares during the period. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund’s holdings in General Electric were worth $26,814,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GE. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in General Electric by 91.8% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 7,771,759 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,465,598,000 after buying an additional 3,719,894 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of General Electric by 505.8% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,908,434 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $359,882,000 after acquiring an additional 1,593,413 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of General Electric by 206.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,444,466 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $278,247,000 after acquiring an additional 973,135 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of General Electric by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 43,322,827 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $8,181,801,000 after acquiring an additional 898,296 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of General Electric by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,106,786 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $774,458,000 after acquiring an additional 457,038 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

General Electric Stock Down 4.2 %

Shares of NYSE GE opened at $199.90 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $214.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.37, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.22. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $186.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $180.85. General Electric has a 52-week low of $119.88 and a 52-week high of $212.19.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.32 earnings per share 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%. Sell-side analysts expect that General Electric will post 5.4 earnings per share 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 given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This is an increase from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.72%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is presently 18.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GE. UBS Group increased their target price on General Electric from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on General Electric from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Citigroup increased their target price on General Electric from $216.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on General Electric from $235.00 to $228.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Redburn Atlantic started coverage on General Electric in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $250.00 price objective for the company. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, General Electric has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.31.

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.