Cannell & Co. Invests $19.97 Million in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Cannell & Co. acquired a new stake in General Electric (NYSE:GE - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 156,490 shares of the conglomerate's stock, valued at approximately $19,973,000.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. WCM Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Electric in the fourth quarter valued at about $520,488,000. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its position in 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. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in General Electric by 11,947.8% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,576,570 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $201,218,000 after purchasing an additional 1,563,484 shares during the period. Carmignac Gestion acquired a new stake in General Electric in the third quarter valued at about $133,581,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in General Electric by 358.4% in the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,456,673 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $161,035,000 after purchasing an additional 1,138,896 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.77% of the company's stock.

General Electric Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of GE traded down $2.12 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $159.70. The company had a trading volume of 4,775,862 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,024,032. The stock has a market cap of $174.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.29. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $161.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $137.17. General Electric has a fifty-two week low of $77.93 and a fifty-two week high of $166.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

General Electric (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.25 billion. General Electric had a net margin of 5.05% and a return on equity of 12.54%. General Electric's revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.27 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that General Electric will post 3.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 25th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is a positive change from General Electric's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 12th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. General Electric's payout ratio is presently 36.72%.

Insider Activity at General Electric

In other General Electric news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 approximately $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 13,601 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total value of $1,843,615.55. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 48,339 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,552,351.45. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.87, for a total transaction of $3,195,107.85. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 56,284 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,153,863.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.66% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on GE. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of General Electric from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of General Electric from $180.00 to $148.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of General Electric from $190.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Argus lifted their price target on shares of General Electric from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of General Electric from $120.43 to $186.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $172.29.

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.