Community Bank N.A. Reduces Stock Position in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Community Bank N.A. reduced its position in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 11.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 2,808 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 358 shares during the period. Community Bank N.A.’s holdings in General Electric were worth $358,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC bought a new position in shares of General Electric during the third quarter valued at approximately $224,000. Summit Global Investments bought a new stake in shares of General Electric during the 3rd quarter valued at $218,000. RFG Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of General Electric by 9.6% during the 3rd quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 3,197 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $353,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its stake in shares of General Electric by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 26,440 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,923,000 after buying an additional 1,706 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of General Electric by 25.8% during the 3rd quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,872 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $428,000 after buying an additional 794 shares in the last quarter. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on GE shares. TheStreet upgraded shares of General Electric from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of General Electric from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Vertical Research started coverage on shares of General Electric in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $160.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on shares of General Electric from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of General Electric from $200.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Electric presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $167.29.

General Electric Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of GE stock traded up $1.42 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $160.61. 3,744,834 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,111,428. General Electric has a fifty-two week low of $76.87 and a fifty-two week high of $163.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.17. The company has a market capitalization of $175.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.29. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $160.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $135.55.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.25 billion. General Electric had a net margin of 5.05% and a return on equity of 12.54%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.27 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that General Electric will post 3.95 earnings per share for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This is an increase from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. General Electric’s payout ratio is currently 36.72%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Electric news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 56,284 shares in the company, valued at $8,153,863.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other General Electric news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the company’s 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 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 13,601 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were 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 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. 0.66% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.