Delta Financial Group Inc. Buys Shares of 11,598 General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Delta Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in General Electric (NYSE:GE) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 11,598 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $1,935,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in shares of General Electric by 91.8% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 7,771,759 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,465,598,000 after acquiring an additional 3,719,894 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,593,413 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of General Electric by 206.5% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,444,466 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $278,247,000 after acquiring an additional 973,135 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of General Electric by 2.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 43,322,827 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $8,181,801,000 after acquiring an additional 898,296 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its holdings in shares of General Electric by 12.5% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,106,786 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $774,458,000 after acquiring an additional 457,038 shares during the last quarter. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Electric Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GE opened at $199.90 on Friday. General Electric has a fifty-two week low of $119.88 and a fifty-two week high of $212.19. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $186.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $180.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market cap of $214.55 billion, a PE ratio of 33.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.22.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.27. General Electric had a return on equity of 22.19% and a net margin of 14.31%. Sell-side analysts expect that General Electric will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. This is a positive change from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GE has been the subject of several analyst reports. Northcoast Research initiated coverage on General Electric in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on General Electric from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on General Electric from $235.00 to $228.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of General Electric in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on General Electric from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued 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 $211.31.

General Electric 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.