Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Cuts Stock Position in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board cut its stake in General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 57.3% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,618 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 4,852 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board’s holdings in General Electric were worth $635,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted 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 in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in General Electric in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,193,159,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its stake in General Electric by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 6,655,053 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $849,385,000 after purchasing an additional 426,794 shares in the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in General Electric by 42.5% in the 1st quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 5,778,771 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,014,348,000 after purchasing an additional 1,722,597 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,873,327 shares in the last quarter. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

General Electric Price Performance

NYSE:GE traded up $3.63 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $162.76. 6,345,366 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,085,089. 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 stock’s 50-day moving average is $161.80 and its 200-day moving average is $155.32. The firm has a market cap of $178.16 billion, a PE ratio of 53.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.21. General Electric has a twelve month low of $84.42 and a twelve month high of $170.80.

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

General Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 11th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 11th. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.72%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Russell Stokes sold 45,309 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.82, for a total value of $7,377,211.38. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 112,958 shares in the company, valued at $18,391,821.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.66% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of General Electric from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Vertical Research assumed coverage on shares of General Electric in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $160.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of General Electric from $165.00 to $192.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of General Electric from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of General Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $175.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $181.93.

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.