Advisors Asset Management Inc. Grows Holdings in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 94.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,405 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,054 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in General Electric were worth $1,826,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Choate Investment Advisors increased its position in shares of General Electric by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Choate Investment Advisors now owns 16,000 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,808,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Walker Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of General Electric by 1.7% during the first quarter. Walker Asset Management LLC now owns 4,111 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $722,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of General Electric by 2.6% during the first quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,821 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $495,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC increased its holdings in General Electric by 1.9% in the first quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 3,777 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $663,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. raised its stake in General Electric by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 4,316 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $550,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Electric

In related news, SVP Russell Stokes sold 45,309 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 112,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,391,821.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.66% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on GE. Barclays lowered their price objective on General Electric from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Argus upped their price target on General Electric from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of General Electric from $120.43 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of General Electric from $148.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of General Electric from $190.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, General Electric has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $183.93.

General Electric Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GE opened at $169.81 on Friday. General Electric has a one year low of $84.42 and a one year high of $177.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $184.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 55.68, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $162.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $156.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.14.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.21. The company had revenue of $9.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.44 billion. General Electric had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 7.66%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.68 EPS. On average, analysts predict that General Electric will post 4.13 EPS for the current year.

General Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 11th were given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 11th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.72%.

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.