Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Sells 24,158 Shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lessened its stake in General Electric (NYSE:GE - Free Report) by 12.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 170,151 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 24,158 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.'s holdings in General Electric were worth $21,716,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in General Electric by 122,242.2% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,438,063 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $878,644,000 after purchasing an additional 13,427,079 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of General Electric in the fourth quarter valued at about $635,274,000. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of General Electric by 17.3% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 48,490,012 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $4,639,533,000 after purchasing an additional 7,157,356 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its position in shares of General Electric by 265.7% in the third quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 3,008,425 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $332,581,000 after purchasing an additional 2,185,793 shares during the period. Finally, Imprint Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of General Electric by 12,475.5% in the second quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC now owns 1,632,677 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $163,268,000 after purchasing an additional 1,619,694 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.77% of the company's stock.

General Electric Price Performance

Shares of GE traded up $2.12 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $156.61. 8,063,944 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,759,331. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $157.02 and a 200-day moving average of $132.40. General Electric has a one year low of $93.47 and a one year high of $180.36. The firm has a market cap of $171.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.71, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

General Electric (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $19.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.27 billion. General Electric had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 13.95%. The company's revenue was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.24 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that General Electric will post 4.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This is an increase from General Electric's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.72%. General Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 3.82%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on GE. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of General Electric from $200.00 to $165.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of General Electric from $195.00 to $180.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of General Electric from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of General Electric in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of General Electric in a research report on Friday, April 5th. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $156.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Electric 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 56,284 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,153,863.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the senior vice president now 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 can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 13,601 shares of General Electric stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 48,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,552,351.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.66% of the company's stock.

General Electric Profile

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.