Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Grows Holdings in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 8.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,184,772 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 318,245 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.38% of General Electric worth $534,123,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GE. Halpern Financial Inc. increased its position in General Electric by 968.4% in the fourth quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. now owns 203 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the period. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in General Electric in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. CGC Financial Services LLC increased its position in General Electric by 90.2% in the fourth quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 232 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the period. Capital Analysts LLC increased its position in General Electric by 55.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 243 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. Finally, Bfsg LLC acquired a new stake in General Electric in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Electric Stock Down 2.5 %

NYSE GE traded down $4.12 during trading on Friday, reaching $163.38. 5,711,329 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,793,639. General Electric has a fifty-two week low of $78.17 and a fifty-two week high of $170.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $178.84 billion, a PE ratio of 53.57, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $163.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $139.96.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.25 billion. General Electric had a return on equity of 12.54% and a net margin of 5.05%. The firm’s revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.27 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that General Electric will post 3.96 EPS for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 25th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th were paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. This is an increase from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 12th. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on GE. Argus increased their target price on General Electric from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com began coverage on General Electric in a report on Monday, April 29th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on General Electric from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price target on General Electric from $210.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on General Electric from $180.00 to $148.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $172.29.

Insider Activity at General Electric

In other news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.87, for a total transaction of $3,195,107.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 56,284 shares in the company, valued at $8,153,863.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.66% of the stock is owned by company 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.