ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Has $5.57 Million Stock Holdings in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. lessened its position in General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 0.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 43,676 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 78 shares during the quarter. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in General Electric were worth $5,574,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Electric news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 13,601 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total value of $1,843,615.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 48,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,552,351.45. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other General Electric news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 13,601 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total value of $1,843,615.55. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 48,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,552,351.45. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 56,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,153,863.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on GE shares. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on General Electric from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. TheStreet upgraded General Electric from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. TD Cowen upgraded General Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $175.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price 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. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on General Electric from $210.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, General Electric has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $160.07.

General Electric Price Performance

Shares of General Electric stock traded down $4.85 during trading on Friday, reaching $148.09. 9,564,571 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,004,441. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.18. General Electric has a 1-year low of $76.87 and a 1-year high of $158.68. The company has a market cap of $161.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.69, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.29. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $159.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $134.37.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.03 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $19.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.24 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter 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 company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This is a boost from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is presently 13.38%.

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.