Portland Global Advisors LLC Has $405,000 Holdings in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Portland Global Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 14.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,426 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 402 shares during the period. Portland Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in General Electric were worth $405,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its stake in shares of General Electric by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 1,134,597 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $190,726,000 after buying an additional 378,371 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of General Electric by 298.8% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 153,178 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $25,549,000 after acquiring an additional 114,764 shares during the last quarter. American Money Management LLC raised its stake in shares of General Electric by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. American Money Management LLC now owns 17,209 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,870,000 after acquiring an additional 566 shares during the last quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of General Electric by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc. now owns 11,093 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,850,000 after purchasing an additional 609 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allianz SE acquired a new stake in shares of General Electric in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $7,481,000. Institutional investors own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

General Electric Trading Down 3.0 %

NYSE:GE opened at $199.66 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. General Electric has a twelve month low of $133.99 and a twelve month high of $214.21. The company has a market cap of $214.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.19. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $201.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $186.50.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last released 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 net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 22.19%. As a group, analysts expect that General Electric will post 5.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. 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 0.72%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is 24.04%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on GE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on General Electric from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of General Electric in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of General Electric from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Northcoast Research began coverage on General Electric in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Finally, Redburn Atlantic began coverage on General Electric in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $250.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.31.

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.