Griffin Asset Management Inc. Decreases Holdings in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Griffin Asset Management Inc. lowered its position in General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 0.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 20,571 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 163 shares during the quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in General Electric were worth $3,611,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GE. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in General Electric by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 88,444,222 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $11,288,136,000 after purchasing an additional 550,996 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in General Electric during the 4th quarter valued at $1,193,159,000. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in General Electric by 5.1% during the 3rd 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 period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its position in General Electric by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 6,655,053 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $849,385,000 after buying an additional 426,794 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in General Electric by 62.3% in the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 4,881,752 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $623,058,000 after acquiring an additional 1,873,327 shares during the last quarter. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

General Electric Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE GE traded down $1.53 on Friday, reaching $158.97. 8,641,197 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,007,353. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $162.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $151.17. General Electric has a 12 month low of $84.42 and a 12 month high of $170.80. The company has a market cap of $174.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.23. 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 (NYSE:GE) last posted 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 company had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.25 billion. General Electric had a return on equity of 12.54% and a net margin of 5.05%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.27 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that General Electric will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Russell Stokes sold 45,309 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 112,958 shares in the company, valued at $18,391,821.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 0.66% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GE. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of General Electric in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Vertical Research assumed coverage on General Electric in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $160.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on General Electric from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Argus raised their price target on General Electric from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of General Electric from $165.00 to $192.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Two equities 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, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $181.36.

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.