Ascent Capital Management LLC Invests $365,000 in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Ascent Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in General Electric (NYSE:GE) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 2,189 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $365,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GE. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of General Electric by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 43,322,827 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $8,181,801,000 after acquiring an additional 898,296 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in General Electric by 0.7% in 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. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in General Electric by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 7,878,650 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,314,080,000 after purchasing an additional 106,891 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in General Electric by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 6,766,421 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,128,571,000 after buying an additional 115,257 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of General Electric by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 6,732,817 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,122,966,000 after buying an additional 202,233 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on GE shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on General Electric from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on General Electric from $235.00 to $228.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of General Electric from $216.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Northcoast Research initiated coverage on shares of General Electric in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Finally, Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of General Electric in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $250.00 price objective on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.31.

General Electric Stock Performance

Shares of General Electric stock opened at $197.39 on Friday. General Electric has a 12 month low of $131.91 and a 12 month high of $212.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $211.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.95, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $195.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $183.91.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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%. On average, equities analysts forecast that General Electric will post 5.4 earnings per share 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 paid a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. This is an increase from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is presently 24.04%.

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.