Guardian Investment Management Has $1.50 Million Holdings in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Guardian Investment Management lessened its stake in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,755 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 187 shares during the period. General Electric comprises 1.2% of Guardian Investment Management’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Guardian Investment Management’s holdings in General Electric were worth $1,500,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp grew its stake in General Electric by 17.3% during the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 48,490,012 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,639,533,000 after acquiring an additional 7,157,356 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in General Electric by 122,242.2% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,438,063 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $878,644,000 after acquiring an additional 13,427,079 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in General Electric by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,588,433 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,170,551,000 after acquiring an additional 410,061 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in General Electric by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,955,511 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $990,032,000 after acquiring an additional 434,736 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in General Electric during the 4th quarter valued at about $635,274,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

General Electric Stock Performance

General Electric stock traded down $1.86 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $153.81. 3,843,256 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,950,624. The firm has a market cap of $168.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.42, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $158.87 and a 200 day moving average of $133.96. General Electric has a 12 month low of $76.87 and a 12 month high of $158.68.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. General Electric had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 13.95%. The company had revenue of $19.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.24 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that General Electric will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This is a positive change from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.73%. General Electric’s payout ratio is 13.38%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on GE. StockNews.com began coverage on General Electric in a research note on Saturday, April 13th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of General Electric in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Barclays lowered their price target on General Electric from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. TheStreet raised General Electric from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on General Electric from $180.00 to $148.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, General Electric presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $160.07.

Insider Transactions at General Electric

In other news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 13,601 shares of the company’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 in the company, valued at $6,552,351.45. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 13,601 shares of the company’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 in the company, valued at $6,552,351.45. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 $8,153,863.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate 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.