Cambridge Financial Group Inc. Purchases New Position in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Cambridge Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in General Electric (NYSE:GE - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 56,855 shares of the conglomerate's stock, valued at approximately $6,285,000. General Electric accounts for about 3.4% of Cambridge Financial Group Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Steward Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in General Electric in the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. raised its stake in General Electric by 808.1% in the first quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 336 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 299 shares during the period. Motco raised its stake in General Electric by 143.0% in the second quarter. Motco now owns 294 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the period. Financial Freedom LLC bought a new stake in General Electric in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Macroview Investment Management LLC raised its stake in General Electric by 43.4% in the third quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 317 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. 74.83% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other General Electric news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.87, for a total value of $3,195,107.85. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 56,284 shares in the company, valued at $8,153,863.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of General Electric stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.87, for a total transaction of $3,195,107.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 56,284 shares in the company, valued at $8,153,863.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 13,601 shares of General Electric stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total transaction of $1,843,615.55. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 48,339 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,552,351.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.67% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on GE. Barclays upped their price objective on General Electric from $144.00 to $153.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on General Electric from $124.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on General Electric from $150.00 to $148.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. StockNews.com upgraded General Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on General Electric from $144.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $132.00.

General Electric Price Performance

NYSE:GE traded up $0.79 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $149.16. The company had a trading volume of 6,876,932 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,850,526. General Electric has a 52-week low of $81.65 and a 52-week high of $150.36. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $130.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $119.48. The company has a market capitalization of $162.34 billion, a PE ratio of 17.82, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

General Electric (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. General Electric had a net margin of 13.95% and a return on equity of 10.88%. The company had revenue of $19.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.24 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that General Electric will post 4.53 earnings per share for the current year.

General Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, December 28th were paid a $0.08 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, December 27th. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.21%. General Electric's payout ratio is presently 3.82%.

About General Electric

General Electric Company operates as a high-tech industrial company in Europe, China, Asia, the Americas, the Middle East, and Africa. It offers gas and steam turbines, full balance of plant, upgrade, and service solutions, as well as data-leveraging software for power generation, industrial, government, and other customers.

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