Empirical Finance LLC Purchases 1,311 Shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Empirical Finance LLC grew its position in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 3.5% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 39,263 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 1,311 shares during the quarter. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in General Electric were worth $6,892,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in General Electric in the fourth quarter worth about $1,193,159,000. WCM Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in General Electric in the fourth quarter worth about $520,488,000. Lone Pine Capital LLC purchased a new stake in General Electric in the fourth quarter worth about $268,519,000. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in General Electric by 62.3% in the fourth quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 4,881,752 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $623,058,000 after purchasing an additional 1,873,327 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in General Electric by 11,947.8% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,576,570 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $201,218,000 after purchasing an additional 1,563,484 shares during the period. 74.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Russell Stokes sold 45,309 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.82, for a total transaction of $7,377,211.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 112,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,391,821.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GE. TD Cowen upgraded shares of General Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $175.00 to $180.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of General Electric from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of General Electric from $165.00 to $192.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of General Electric from $120.43 to $186.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of General Electric from $195.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Electric has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $181.93.

General Electric Stock Performance

GE traded down $2.91 during trading on Friday, hitting $159.01. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,961,703 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,141,361. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. General Electric has a one year low of $84.42 and a one year high of $170.80. The firm has a market cap of $174.05 billion, a PE ratio of 52.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.21. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $162.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $153.58.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.25 billion. General Electric had a net margin of 5.05% and a return on equity of 12.54%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.27 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that General Electric will post 4.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 11th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 11th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. General Electric’s payout ratio is 36.72%.

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.