Cullen Investment Group LTD. Makes New $607,000 Investment in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Cullen Investment Group LTD. purchased a new position in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm purchased 4,753 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $607,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Halpern Financial Inc. grew its position in shares of General Electric by 968.4% in the fourth quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. now owns 203 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. CGC Financial Services LLC grew its position in General Electric by 90.2% during the fourth quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 232 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. Macroview Investment Management LLC grew its position in General Electric by 43.4% during the third quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 317 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Fortis Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in General Electric during the third quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, DHJJ Financial Advisors Ltd. purchased a new stake in General Electric during the third quarter valued at about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GE has been the subject of a number of research reports. StockNews.com initiated coverage on General Electric in a research report on Saturday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Bank of America lowered their price target on General Electric from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on General Electric from $200.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. TheStreet raised General Electric from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on General Electric from $210.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, General Electric presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $160.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, 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 value 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 $8,153,863.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, 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 value 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 $8,153,863.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 directly owns 48,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,552,351.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

General Electric Trading Down 0.6 %

NYSE:GE opened at $153.71 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.18. General Electric has a one year low of $76.38 and a one year high of $158.68. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $158.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $133.49. The stock has a market cap of $168.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.29.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.24 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that General Electric will post 3.78 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. This is a boost from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. General Electric’s payout ratio is 13.38%.

About General Electric

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.