Stevens Capital Management LP Purchases 1,446 Shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Stevens Capital Management LP raised its position in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 53.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,162 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 1,446 shares during the period. Stevens Capital Management LP’s holdings in General Electric were worth $694,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of GE. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of General Electric by 29.8% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 18,706 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,528,000 after purchasing an additional 4,294 shares in the last quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in General Electric during the 3rd quarter valued at about $243,000. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI raised its stake in General Electric by 20.1% in the third quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 8,617 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,628,000 after buying an additional 1,445 shares during the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in General Electric by 5.3% in the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 842,223 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $158,826,000 after buying an additional 42,490 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eagle Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in General Electric by 6.2% in the third quarter. Eagle Asset Management Inc. now owns 96,832 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $17,896,000 after acquiring an additional 5,639 shares in the last quarter. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

General Electric Price Performance

NYSE:GE opened at $203.99 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $198.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $185.01. General Electric has a 1-year low of $133.99 and a 1-year high of $212.19. The firm has a market cap of $218.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

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 net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 22.19%. Equities research analysts forecast that General Electric will post 5.4 EPS for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This is an increase from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of General Electric from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of General Electric from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Northcoast Research assumed coverage on shares of General Electric in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Bank of America upped their target price on General Electric from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of General Electric in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.