Empirical Asset Management LLC Trims Stake in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Empirical Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 19.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 3,003 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 714 shares during the quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC’s holdings in General Electric were worth $501,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Tsfg LLC lifted its stake in shares of General Electric by 12.8% in the third quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 485 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $92,000 after buying an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its stake in General Electric by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 2,267 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $428,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of General Electric by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. now owns 6,299 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,188,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Meridian Management Co. grew its position in shares of General Electric by 1.2% in the third quarter. Meridian Management Co. now owns 5,153 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $972,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Electric by 3.0% in the third quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,115 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $399,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

General Electric Price Performance

Shares of GE opened at $182.83 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. General Electric has a fifty-two week low of $101.16 and a fifty-two week high of $194.80. The company has a market cap of $197.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.13, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.19. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $174.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $174.00.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.02. General Electric had a return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 11.48%. The firm had revenue of $9.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.02 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.82 earnings per share. General Electric’s revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that General Electric will post 4.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GE has been the subject of several analyst reports. UBS Group upped their target price on General Electric from $223.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of General Electric from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of General Electric from $198.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of General Electric from $235.00 to $228.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on General Electric from $201.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.47.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other General Electric news, SVP Russell Stokes sold 15,550 shares of General Electric stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.29, for a total transaction of $2,772,409.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 148,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,539,714.53. The trade was a 9.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Riccardo Procacci sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.13, for a total value of $1,267,910.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,407,036.57. This represents a 34.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.66% of the stock is 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.