Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. Increases Stock Position in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 6.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,289 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 366 shares during the quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in General Electric were worth $803,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Halpern Financial Inc. increased its stake in 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. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Electric during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. CGC Financial Services LLC increased its stake in shares of General Electric by 90.2% during the fourth quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 232 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. Capital Analysts LLC increased its stake in shares of General Electric by 55.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 243 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the period. Finally, Bfsg LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Electric during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of General Electric in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of General Electric from $165.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of General Electric from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of General Electric from $190.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of General Electric from $210.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, General Electric currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $172.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 owns 56,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,153,863.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.66% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

General Electric Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GE traded up $1.47 on Friday, hitting $164.11. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,968,626 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,987,890. General Electric has a 12-month low of $77.93 and a 12-month high of $166.26. The company has a market capitalization of $179.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $161.93 and a 200-day moving average of $137.89.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion for 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.27 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that General Electric will post 3.96 EPS for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 yield of 0.68%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is 36.72%.

About General Electric

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.