Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Raises Stake in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 288,224 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,788 shares during the quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in General Electric were worth $36,786,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of GE. Halpern Financial Inc. grew its stake 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 buying an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Electric during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. CGC Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of General Electric by 90.2% during the 4th quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 232 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the period. Capital Analysts LLC raised its holdings in shares of General Electric by 55.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 243 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. Finally, Bfsg LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Electric during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on GE. Vertical Research began coverage on General Electric in a report on Thursday, April 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $160.00 target price on the stock. Argus raised their target price on General Electric from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on General Electric in a report on Monday, April 29th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of General Electric in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on General Electric from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $176.00.

General Electric Stock Performance

Shares of GE traded up $2.07 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $167.33. The stock had a trading volume of 5,500,252 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,534,409. The company has a market cap of $183.16 billion, a PE ratio of 54.86, a PEG ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.25. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $162.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $143.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. General Electric has a fifty-two week low of $79.76 and a fifty-two week high of $170.80.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.17. General Electric had a return on equity of 12.54% and a net margin of 5.05%. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.27 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that General Electric will post 3.98 earnings per share for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 12th. This is a positive change from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. General Electric’s payout ratio is 36.72%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Electric news, SVP Russell Stokes sold 45,309 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.82, for a total transaction of $7,377,211.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 112,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,391,821.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.66% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

General Electric 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.