Blue Trust Inc. Purchases 5,433 Shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 66.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,643 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 5,433 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in General Electric were worth $2,573,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in General Electric by 9.9% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 59,100,643 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $10,373,936,000 after acquiring an additional 5,309,543 shares in the last quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Electric in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,613,332,000. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of General Electric by 2,818.1% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,749,560 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,237,930,000 after purchasing an additional 12,312,648 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of General Electric by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,405,731 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,336,257,000 after buying an additional 459,201 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in General Electric by 221.6% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 7,121,741 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,250,079,000 after buying an additional 4,907,530 shares in the last quarter. 74.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on GE shares. StockNews.com downgraded General Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of General Electric from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of General Electric from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of General Electric from $198.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of General Electric from $201.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Electric currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $196.86.

General Electric Stock Performance

GE stock opened at $192.61 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $210.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 63.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 0.85. General Electric has a 1 year low of $84.42 and a 1 year high of $194.80. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $178.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $167.42.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.21. General Electric had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 7.66%. The business had revenue of $9.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.44 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.68 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that General Electric will post 4.2 earnings per share for the current year.

General Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.58%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.72%.

About General Electric

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.