Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Decreases Stake in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. cut its holdings in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 7.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 17,967 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,343 shares during the quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in General Electric were worth $2,997,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GE. Toth Financial Advisory Corp purchased a new stake in General Electric during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. bought a new stake in shares of General Electric during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Electric during the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of General Electric in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in General Electric during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Institutional investors own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on shares of General Electric from $235.00 to $228.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Northcoast Research assumed coverage on General Electric in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. UBS Group raised their price target on General Electric from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on General Electric from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of General Electric from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, General Electric presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.73.

General Electric Stock Performance

NYSE GE opened at $205.32 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $220.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.28, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $179.22 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $177.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. General Electric has a 12-month low of $110.57 and a 12-month high of $207.84.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts forecast that General Electric will post 5.39 EPS for the current year.

General Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. General Electric’s payout ratio is currently 18.70%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Russell Stokes sold 15,550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.29, for a total transaction of $2,772,409.50. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

General Electric Company 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.