TCW Group Inc. Sells 25,947 Shares of GE Aerospace (NYSE:GE)

Key Points

• TCW Group Inc. reduced its stake in GE Aerospace by 2.3%, holding 1,109,378 shares, which constitutes 2.0% of its portfolio.
• Analysts are optimistic about GE Aerospace with multiple brokerages increasing their price targets, including Barclays raising it from $230.00 to $295.00 and UBS from $300.00 to $321.00.
• GE Aerospace reported $1.66 earnings per share in its most recent quarter, exceeding estimates, and also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.36 per share.

TCW Group Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of GE Aerospace (NYSE:GE - Free Report) by 2.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,109,378 shares of the company's stock after selling 25,947 shares during the period. GE Aerospace comprises about 2.0% of TCW Group Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. TCW Group Inc. owned about 0.10% of GE Aerospace worth $222,042,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of GE Aerospace by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 66,823,968 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,145,570,000 after buying an additional 965,012 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of GE Aerospace by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 23,117,418 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,846,587,000 after buying an additional 529,457 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of GE Aerospace by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,046,867 shares of the company's stock worth $1,675,717,000 after buying an additional 553,104 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of GE Aerospace by 14.4% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,544,757 shares of the company's stock worth $1,591,970,000 after buying an additional 1,204,910 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of GE Aerospace by 11.5% during the 4th quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 7,551,038 shares of the company's stock worth $1,259,438,000 after purchasing an additional 781,574 shares during the period. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Northcoast Research cut shares of GE Aerospace from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, May 19th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of GE Aerospace from $34.00 to $38.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of GE Aerospace from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of GE Aerospace from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and issued a $296.00 target price (up from $227.00) on shares of GE Aerospace in a research note on Monday, July 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $232.92.

GE Aerospace Stock Up 0.4%

NYSE GE traded up $1.09 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $271.40. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,603,333 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,202,147. The firm has a market capitalization of $287.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.87, a PEG ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 1.37. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $249.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $216.66. GE Aerospace has a twelve month low of $150.20 and a twelve month high of $273.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88.

GE Aerospace (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.23. GE Aerospace had a return on equity of 31.32% and a net margin of 18.64%. The firm had revenue of $10.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.49 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.20 EPS. The company's revenue was up 21.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that GE Aerospace will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current year.

GE Aerospace Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, July 25th. Investors of record on Monday, July 7th were issued a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.53%. GE Aerospace's payout ratio is 20.08%.

About GE Aerospace

GE Aerospace (also known as General Electric) is a company that specializes in providing aerospace products and services. It operates through two reportable segments: Commercial Engines and Services and Defense and Propulsion Technologies. It offers jet and turboprop engines, as well as integrated systems for commercial, military, business, and general aviation aircraft.