Morse Asset Management Inc Buys 3,280 Shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Morse Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 27.6% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 15,184 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,280 shares during the quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc’s holdings in General Electric were worth $2,665,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Halpern Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in General Electric by 968.4% in the fourth quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. now owns 203 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in General Electric in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Capital Analysts LLC boosted its holdings in General Electric by 55.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 243 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Bfsg LLC bought a new stake in General Electric in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new stake in General Electric in the fourth quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Russell Stokes sold 45,309 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 112,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,391,821.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.66% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on GE shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of General Electric from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of General Electric from $148.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of General Electric from $201.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 1st. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of General Electric from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of General Electric from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. 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.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $183.93.

General Electric Stock Up 3.1 %

Shares of GE traded up $5.14 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $169.81. The company had a trading volume of 7,297,730 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,743,017. General Electric has a 52-week low of $84.42 and a 52-week high of $177.20. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $162.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $156.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $184.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.21.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.68 EPS. General Electric’s revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that General Electric will post 4.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 11th were given a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 11th. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.