Howard Financial Services LTD. Purchases New Holdings in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Howard Financial Services LTD. acquired a new position in General Electric (NYSE:GE) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 1,550 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $259,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of GE. Newport Trust Company LLC bought a new position in shares of General Electric during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,613,332,000. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in General Electric by 91.8% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 7,771,759 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,465,598,000 after purchasing an additional 3,719,894 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in General Electric by 21,069.8% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,173,142 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $598,391,000 after purchasing an additional 3,158,153 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in General Electric by 505.8% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,908,434 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $359,882,000 after buying an additional 1,593,413 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ensign Peak Advisors Inc raised its stake in shares of General Electric by 280.8% in the second quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 1,485,097 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $236,086,000 after buying an additional 1,095,093 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Riccardo Procacci sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.13, for a total transaction of $1,267,910.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,407,036.57. This trade represents a 34.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Russell Stokes sold 15,550 shares of General Electric stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.29, for a total value of $2,772,409.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 148,857 shares in the company, valued at $26,539,714.53. This trade represents a 9.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.66% of the stock is owned by insiders.

General Electric Price Performance

GE stock opened at $182.83 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $174.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $173.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market cap of $197.87 billion, a PE ratio of 32.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.19. General Electric has a one year low of $101.16 and a one year high of $194.80.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.02. General Electric had a return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 11.48%. The business had revenue of $9.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.82 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that General Electric will post 4.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. General Electric’s payout ratio is 19.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America increased their price target on General Electric from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on shares of General Electric from $235.00 to $228.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of General Electric from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of General Electric from $223.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of General Electric from $198.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.47.

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.