Clearbridge Investments LLC Lowers Holdings in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Clearbridge Investments LLC lowered its position in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 15.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,042 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,120 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC’s holdings in General Electric were worth $1,008,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GE. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in General Electric by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 89,815,318 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $14,980,297,000 after purchasing an additional 410,172 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in General Electric by 2.1% during the 3rd 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 period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased 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 worth $4,244,676,000 after purchasing an additional 156,272 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of General Electric during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,375,439,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Electric by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 7,878,650 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,314,080,000 after buying an additional 106,891 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

General Electric Stock Performance

NYSE GE opened at $187.30 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. General Electric has a fifty-two week low of $146.21 and a fifty-two week high of $214.21. The business has a fifty day moving average of $202.16 and a 200-day moving average of $187.13. The stock has a market cap of $201.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.19.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, analysts predict that General Electric will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.77%. This is a positive change from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.04%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price objective on General Electric from $216.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of General Electric in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of General Electric from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of General Electric from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of General Electric from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $211.31.

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.