Fayez Sarofim & Co Increases Position in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Fayez Sarofim & Co increased its stake in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 28.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 8,440 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,875 shares during the period. Fayez Sarofim & Co’s holdings in General Electric were worth $1,408,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Electric in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $733,000. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in General Electric in the 4th quarter valued at $795,000. National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in General Electric by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,064,417 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $177,535,000 after buying an additional 29,844 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in General Electric by 60.7% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,662 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,576,000 after buying an additional 5,162 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service lifted its stake in shares of General Electric by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 2,254,637 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $376,051,000 after acquiring an additional 37,884 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of General Electric from $235.00 to $228.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Bank of America lifted their price target on General Electric from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Northcoast Research raised General Electric from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $205.00 target price for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of General Electric from $203.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, General Electric has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $213.33.

General Electric Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of GE stock opened at $178.22 on Tuesday. General Electric has a twelve month low of $148.83 and a twelve month high of $214.21. The company has a market capitalization of $191.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.75, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.04. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $195.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $186.46. 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 (NYSE:GE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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%. 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 0.81%. This is a positive change from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.04%.

About General Electric

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.