Bank of Nova Scotia Cuts Holdings in GE HealthCare Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:GEHC)

Key Points

• Bank of Nova Scotia reduced its holdings in GE HealthCare Technologies by 21% in Q1, selling 12,941 shares and leaving it with a total of 48,748 shares, valued at approximately $3.93 million.
• Despite the reduction, multiple institutional investors, including Wellington Management and Prudential PLC, increased their stakes in GE HealthCare Technologies, reflecting growing confidence in the company's prospects.
• GE HealthCare recently reported earnings of $1.06 EPS, surpassing expectations, with a revenue of $5 billion, a 3.5% increase year-over-year.

Bank of Nova Scotia lowered its position in shares of GE HealthCare Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:GEHC - Free Report) by 21.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 48,748 shares of the company's stock after selling 12,941 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia's holdings in GE HealthCare Technologies were worth $3,934,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GEHC. Malaga Cove Capital LLC acquired a new position in GE HealthCare Technologies during the first quarter worth approximately $246,000. Mengis Capital Management Inc. raised its position in GE HealthCare Technologies by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. Mengis Capital Management Inc. now owns 48,102 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,882,000 after purchasing an additional 3,740 shares during the last quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of GE HealthCare Technologies in the first quarter valued at about $446,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of GE HealthCare Technologies by 17.1% during the first quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 168,296 shares of the company's stock worth $13,583,000 after buying an additional 24,623 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE increased its position in GE HealthCare Technologies by 6.1% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 303,864 shares of the company's stock valued at $24,525,000 after acquiring an additional 17,402 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.06% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have weighed in on GEHC shares. UBS Group raised GE HealthCare Technologies from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $74.00 to $73.00 in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on GE HealthCare Technologies from $78.00 to $74.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of GE HealthCare Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 31st. BTIG Research reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of GE HealthCare Technologies in a research note on Monday, July 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of GE HealthCare Technologies from $103.00 to $89.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $88.55.

GE HealthCare Technologies Price Performance

Shares of GEHC traded up $0.90 on Friday, reaching $72.00. The stock had a trading volume of 2,715,607 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,414,311. GE HealthCare Technologies Inc. has a twelve month low of $57.65 and a twelve month high of $94.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $32.87 billion, a PE ratio of 14.75, a PEG ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 1.13. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $73.62 and a 200 day moving average of $76.20. The company has a quick ratio of 0.93, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.85.

GE HealthCare Technologies (NASDAQ:GEHC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $1.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.91 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $5 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.96 billion. GE HealthCare Technologies had a return on equity of 23.93% and a net margin of 11.22%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 3.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.00 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that GE HealthCare Technologies Inc. will post 4.68 EPS for the current year.

GE HealthCare Technologies announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Wednesday, April 30th that authorizes the company to repurchase $1.00 billion in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to repurchase up to 3.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company's board believes its shares are undervalued.

GE HealthCare Technologies Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, July 25th will be given a dividend of $0.035 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, July 25th. This represents a $0.14 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. GE HealthCare Technologies's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 2.87%.

GE HealthCare Technologies Profile

GE HealthCare Technologies Inc engages in the development, manufacture, and marketing of products, services, and complementary digital solutions used in the diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring of patients in the United States, Canada, and internationally. The company operates through four segments: Imaging, Ultrasound, Patient Care Solutions, and Pharmaceutical Diagnostics.