Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. boosted its stake in General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,407 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 193 shares during the quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc.’s holdings in General Electric were worth $735,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GE. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Electric in the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Hager Investment Management Services LLC bought a new position in shares of General Electric during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Sugar Maple Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in General Electric during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in General Electric in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Picton Mahoney Asset Management increased its stake in General Electric by 62.4% in the 4th quarter. Picton Mahoney Asset Management now owns 177 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. 74.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Bank of America boosted their target price on General Electric from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of General Electric in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on General Electric in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $250.00 target price for the company. Northcoast Research initiated coverage on shares of General Electric in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of General Electric from $235.00 to $228.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Electric currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.31.

General Electric Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GE opened at $206.11 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.09. General Electric has a fifty-two week low of $133.99 and a fifty-two week high of $214.21. The stock has a market cap of $221.21 billion, a PE ratio of 34.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.19. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $201.18 and a 200-day moving average of $186.12.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.27. General Electric had a return on equity of 22.19% and a net margin of 14.31%. Equities research analysts anticipate that General Electric will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is a boost from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.70%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.04%.

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.