Empowered Funds LLC Increases Holdings in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Empowered Funds LLC raised its stake in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 4.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 40,948 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 1,871 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in General Electric were worth $7,188,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Halpern Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of General Electric by 968.4% in the 4th quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. now owns 203 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Electric in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. CGC Financial Services LLC increased its stake in shares of General Electric by 90.2% in the 4th quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 232 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Capital Analysts LLC increased its stake in shares of General Electric by 55.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 243 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bfsg LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Electric in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on General Electric from $190.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on General Electric from $165.00 to $192.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on General Electric from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on General Electric from $148.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. Finally, TD Cowen raised General Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the company from $175.00 to $180.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $181.93.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Russell Stokes sold 45,309 shares of General Electric stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.82, for a total transaction of $7,377,211.38. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 112,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,391,821.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

General Electric Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE:GE traded down $2.91 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $159.01. 5,983,394 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,204,116. General Electric has a 1 year low of $84.42 and a 1 year high of $170.80. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $162.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $153.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $174.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.17. General Electric had a return on equity of 12.54% and a net margin of 5.05%. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.27 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that General Electric will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current year.

General Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 11th. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.72%.

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.