WCM Investment Management LLC Takes $520.49 Million Position in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

WCM Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in General Electric (NYSE:GE) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 4,056,174 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $520,488,000. General Electric accounts for 1.4% of WCM Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. WCM Investment Management LLC owned 0.37% of General Electric as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position 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 period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in General Electric during the fourth quarter worth about $635,274,000. State Street Corp lifted its position in General Electric by 17.3% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 48,490,012 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $4,639,533,000 after purchasing an additional 7,157,356 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its position in General Electric by 265.7% during the third quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 3,008,425 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $332,581,000 after purchasing an additional 2,185,793 shares during the period. Finally, Imprint Wealth LLC lifted its position in General Electric by 12,475.5% during the second quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC now owns 1,632,677 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $163,268,000 after purchasing an additional 1,619,694 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

General Electric Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of GE traded down $2.76 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $154.63. The stock had a trading volume of 6,851,291 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,557,198. General Electric has a 12 month low of $74.78 and a 12 month high of $158.44. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $157.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $132.88. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company has a market capitalization of $169.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.29.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. General Electric had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 13.95%. The business had revenue of $19.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.27 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.24 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that General Electric will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 25th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.72%. This is a positive change from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 3.82%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other General Electric news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 13,601 shares of General Electric stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total transaction of $1,843,615.55. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 can be accessed through this link. In other news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 13,601 shares of General Electric stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of General Electric 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 sale, the senior vice president now 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. 0.66% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GE has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of General Electric from $200.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of General Electric from $180.00 to $148.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of General Electric in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $190.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of General Electric in a report on Saturday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, TD Cowen raised General Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $175.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $156.67.

General Electric Company 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.