Legal & General Group Plc Sells 2,014,359 Shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its holdings in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 24.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,194,624 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 2,014,359 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.58% of General Electric worth $1,033,201,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GE. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Electric during the fourth quarter worth $733,000. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Electric in the 4th quarter valued at about $795,000. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in General Electric by 269.8% during the 3rd quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 28,201 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $5,318,000 after acquiring an additional 20,575 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its stake in General Electric by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,064,417 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $177,535,000 after purchasing an additional 29,844 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of General Electric by 60.7% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,662 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,576,000 after purchasing an additional 5,162 shares in the last quarter. 74.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

General Electric Stock Down 11.1 %

GE stock opened at $166.76 on Monday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $201.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $187.10. General Electric has a 1-year low of $146.78 and a 1-year high of $214.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $178.98 billion, a PE ratio of 27.84, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.27. General Electric had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 22.19%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that General Electric will post 5.4 EPS for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. This is a boost from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.04%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on General Electric from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on General Electric from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of General Electric in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of General Electric from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Northcoast Research started coverage on shares of General Electric in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $214.73.

General Electric Company 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.