J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. Grows Position in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 30.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 14,211 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 3,320 shares during the quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc.’s holdings in General Electric were worth $2,370,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in General Electric by 91.8% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 7,771,759 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,465,598,000 after purchasing an additional 3,719,894 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Electric by 21,069.8% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,173,142 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $598,391,000 after purchasing an additional 3,158,153 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in General Electric by 505.8% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 1,908,434 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $359,882,000 after purchasing an additional 1,593,413 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in General Electric by 206.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,444,466 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $278,247,000 after buying an additional 973,135 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its stake in General Electric by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 43,322,827 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $8,181,801,000 after acquiring an additional 898,296 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

General Electric Price Performance

GE stock opened at $208.62 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.09. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $182.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $179.33. General Electric has a 52-week low of $117.43 and a 52-week high of $211.42. The company has a market capitalization of $223.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.22.

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

General Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. This is a boost from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. General Electric’s payout ratio is currently 18.70%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Melius Research upped their price objective on shares of General Electric from $194.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of General Electric in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Bank of America boosted their price target on General Electric from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Northcoast Research started coverage on shares of General Electric in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Finally, UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of General Electric from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $208.73.

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.