Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Increases Stake in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 61.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,727 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 1,416 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in General Electric were worth $476,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in General Electric by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,588,433 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,170,551,000 after acquiring an additional 410,061 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in shares of General Electric by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,955,511 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $990,032,000 after buying an additional 434,736 shares in the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Electric in the 4th quarter valued at $520,488,000. Meritage Group LP boosted its holdings in shares of General Electric by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Meritage Group LP now owns 3,294,044 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $364,157,000 after buying an additional 110,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in General Electric by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 3,074,080 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $339,848,000 after purchasing an additional 32,643 shares during the period. 74.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 56,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,153,863.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

General Electric Price Performance

General Electric stock opened at $168.86 on Thursday. General Electric has a 12-month low of $78.17 and a 12-month high of $170.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $184.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.25. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $162.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $139.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.82.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.17. General Electric had a net margin of 5.05% and a return on equity of 12.54%. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.25 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.27 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that General Electric will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 25th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th were given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 12th. This is a boost from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.72%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on GE. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of General Electric from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Argus upped their price objective on shares of General Electric from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of General Electric from $210.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of General Electric from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of General Electric from $165.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $172.29.

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.