Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank Boosts Position in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 5.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 403,720 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,217 shares during the quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank’s holdings in General Electric were worth $51,527,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Halpern Financial Inc. grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC grew its position 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 buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Capital Analysts LLC grew its position 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 buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of General Electric by 43.4% during the third quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 317 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fortis Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Electric during the third quarter worth approximately $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on GE. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of General Electric from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of General Electric from $180.00 to $148.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of General Electric in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of General Electric in a report on Saturday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $160.07.

General Electric Trading Up 2.0 %

NYSE:GE opened at $156.76 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.85. General Electric has a fifty-two week low of $76.38 and a fifty-two week high of $158.68. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $158.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $133.81. The stock has a market cap of $171.38 billion, a PE ratio of 18.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.29.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.27 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.24 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that General Electric will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 25th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This is a positive change from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. General Electric’s payout ratio is 13.38%.

Insider Transactions at General Electric

In other news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 13,601 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total transaction of $1,843,615.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,339 shares in the company, valued at $6,552,351.45. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.87, for a total transaction 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 SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 13,601 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 48,339 shares in the company, valued at $6,552,351.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

General Electric Profile

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.