Westend Capital Management LLC Has $14.94 Million Stock Holdings in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Westend Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 52.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 79,229 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 27,372 shares during the quarter. General Electric accounts for approximately 5.1% of Westend Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Westend Capital Management LLC’s holdings in General Electric were worth $14,941,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in shares of General Electric by 10.5% during the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 603,988 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $96,016,000 after purchasing an additional 57,372 shares during the last quarter. Marietta Investment Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of General Electric in the second quarter valued at $1,569,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in General Electric by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 88,444,222 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $11,288,136,000 after buying an additional 550,996 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in General Electric by 25.4% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 16,999 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,702,000 after acquiring an additional 3,442 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Senator Investment Group LP acquired a new stake in General Electric in the second quarter valued at $34,973,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GE. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of General Electric from $198.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. StockNews.com lowered General Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on General Electric from $192.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on General Electric from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on General Electric from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $195.14.

General Electric Price Performance

Shares of General Electric stock opened at $191.16 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $207.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.18. General Electric has a twelve month low of $84.42 and a twelve month high of $191.76. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $175.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $166.60.

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

General Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 26th. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 26.54%.

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.