Westpac Banking Corp Sells 10,310 Shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Westpac Banking Corp trimmed its position in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE - Free Report) by 51.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,819 shares of the conglomerate's stock after selling 10,310 shares during the quarter. Westpac Banking Corp's holdings in General Electric were worth $1,253,000 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. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of General Electric by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 4,316 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $550,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of General Electric by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 6,377 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $814,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV lifted its position in shares of General Electric by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV now owns 4,067 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $519,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. lifted its position in shares of General Electric by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 8,322 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,062,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Analysts LLC lifted its position in shares of General Electric by 55.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 243 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.77% of the company's stock.

General Electric Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of GE stock traded up $3.47 on Wednesday, hitting $163.47. The company had a trading volume of 6,967,845 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,756,559. The firm has a market cap of $178.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.60, a P/E/G ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.25. The stock's 50-day moving average is $163.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $141.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.17. General Electric has a twelve month low of $79.76 and a twelve month high of $170.80.

General Electric (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.17. General Electric had a return on equity of 12.54% and a net margin of 5.05%. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.27 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that General Electric will post 3.96 earnings per share 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 given 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 was Friday, April 12th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. General Electric's dividend payout ratio is presently 36.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America upped their price objective on General Electric from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Argus upped their target price on General Electric from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on General Electric from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays lowered their target price on General Electric from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, TheStreet raised General Electric from a "c+" rating to a "b+" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $174.21.

General Electric Company 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.