PGGM Investments Sells 3,266 Shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE)

PGGM Investments lessened its position in General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 2.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 126,550 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 3,266 shares during the quarter. PGGM Investments’ holdings in General Electric were worth $16,152,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in General Electric by 4.0% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of General Electric by 5.1% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,955,511 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $990,032,000 after buying an additional 434,736 shares during the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of General Electric during the fourth quarter valued at about $520,488,000. Meritage Group LP grew its stake in shares of General Electric by 3.5% during the third quarter. Meritage Group LP now owns 3,294,044 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $364,157,000 after buying an additional 110,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of General Electric by 1.1% during the third quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,074,080 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $339,848,000 after buying an additional 32,643 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

General Electric Stock Performance

Shares of GE stock traded up $1.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $162.35. 5,898,021 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,321,559. General Electric has a 12 month low of $77.28 and a 12 month high of $163.65. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $160.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $136.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $177.71 billion, a PE ratio of 53.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.29.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.17. General Electric had a net margin of 5.05% and a return on equity of 12.54%. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.27 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that General Electric will post 3.93 EPS for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 25th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is a boost from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 12th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. General Electric’s payout ratio is 36.72%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on General Electric from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. TheStreet raised General Electric from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Bank of America raised their target price on General Electric from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on General Electric from $195.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of General Electric from $180.00 to $148.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $170.00.

Insider Activity at General Electric

In other news, 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 transaction of $3,195,107.85. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 56,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,153,863.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 13,601 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total transaction of $1,843,615.55. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,552,351.45. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 transaction of $3,195,107.85. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 56,284 shares in the company, valued at $8,153,863.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.66% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.