Alliancebernstein L.P. Trims Position in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Alliancebernstein L.P. lowered its position in General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,146,272 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 24,488 shares during the quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned about 0.11% of General Electric worth $191,187,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GE. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new stake in shares of General Electric during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Paloma Partners Management Co acquired a new stake in General Electric during the third quarter worth $270,000. Atom Investors LP raised its position in General Electric by 103.2% in the third quarter. Atom Investors LP now owns 11,340 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,138,000 after purchasing an additional 5,759 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its stake in shares of General Electric by 1,025.1% in the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 15,403 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,905,000 after purchasing an additional 14,034 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Beacon Investment Advisory Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of General Electric during the 3rd quarter worth $209,000. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

General Electric Price Performance

General Electric stock opened at $203.90 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $218.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $202.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $187.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. General Electric has a 12-month low of $133.99 and a 12-month high of $214.21.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.27. General Electric had a return on equity of 22.19% and a net margin of 14.31%. Equities analysts expect that General Electric will post 5.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.71%. This is a boost from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 24.04%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of General Electric from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of General Electric in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on General Electric from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Northcoast Research started coverage on General Electric in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on General Electric from $216.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, General Electric has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.31.

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.