Guardian Asset Advisors LLC Raises Position in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Guardian Asset Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 22.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,857 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 342 shares during the period. Guardian Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in General Electric were worth $310,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GE. State Street Corp grew 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 purchasing an additional 898,296 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in General Electric by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 22,587,961 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,244,676,000 after buying an additional 156,272 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in General Electric by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 7,878,650 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,314,080,000 after acquiring an additional 106,891 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of General Electric by 6.7% in the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 6,556,515 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,236,428,000 after acquiring an additional 413,388 shares during the period. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in shares of General Electric by 12.5% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 4,106,786 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $774,458,000 after acquiring an additional 457,038 shares during the last quarter. 74.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

General Electric Stock Performance

Shares of GE opened at $209.71 on Thursday. 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 stock has a market cap of $225.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.22. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $181.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $178.78. General Electric has a 52 week low of $110.95 and a 52 week high of $211.42.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate that General Electric will post 5.39 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, December 27th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.53%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.70%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Russell Stokes sold 15,550 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.29, for a total transaction of $2,772,409.50. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 148,857 shares in the company, valued at $26,539,714.53. This represents a 9.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group raised their target price on General Electric from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of General Electric in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Bank of America raised their price target on General Electric from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of General Electric from $235.00 to $228.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of General Electric from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $208.73.

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.