National Pension Service Purchases 45,231 Shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE)

National Pension Service boosted its holdings in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE - Free Report) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,916,309 shares of the conglomerate's stock after acquiring an additional 45,231 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned 0.18% of General Electric worth $244,579,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of General Electric by 57.3% during the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 11,957 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,526,000 after acquiring an additional 4,354 shares during the last quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in General Electric during the fourth quarter valued at $214,000. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its stake in General Electric by 61.3% during the fourth quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management now owns 3,727 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $476,000 after purchasing an additional 1,416 shares in the last quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of General Electric by 61.6% in the fourth quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,327 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $2,084,000 after acquiring an additional 6,221 shares during the period. Finally, Lincoln National Corp raised its stake in shares of General Electric by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 17,053 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $2,177,000 after acquiring an additional 2,193 shares during the period. 74.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Electric Stock Performance

Shares of General Electric stock traded down $1.36 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $167.50. The company had a trading volume of 4,902,984 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,805,056. The stock has a market cap of $183.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.92, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $162.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $139.38. General Electric has a 12-month low of $78.17 and a 12-month high of $170.80.

General Electric (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion during 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 was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.27 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that General Electric will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 12th. This is a positive change from General Electric's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. General Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.72%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen raised shares of General Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the company from $175.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. TheStreet upgraded shares of General Electric from a "c+" rating to a "b+" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of General Electric from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of General Electric from $165.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of General Electric from $180.00 to $148.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Electric presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $172.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,153,863.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.66% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

General Electric Profile

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.