Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. trimmed its position in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 1.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,972 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 122 shares during the period. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in General Electric were worth $2,101,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of General Electric by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 88,444,222 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $11,288,136,000 after acquiring an additional 550,996 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in General Electric during the 4th quarter valued at $1,193,159,000. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main raised its holdings in General Electric by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 6,655,053 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $849,385,000 after buying an additional 426,794 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in General Electric by 42.5% during the 1st quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 5,778,771 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,014,348,000 after buying an additional 1,722,597 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in General Electric by 62.3% during the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 4,881,752 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $623,058,000 after buying an additional 1,873,327 shares during the period. 74.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Electric Stock Up 5.7 %

Shares of GE traded up $9.26 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $172.02. 16,421,131 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,151,806. The company’s 50 day moving average is $161.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $155.59. General Electric has a 52 week low of $84.42 and a 52 week high of $177.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company has a market capitalization of $188.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.54, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.22.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.17. General Electric had a return on equity of 12.54% and a net margin of 5.05%. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.27 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that General Electric will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current year.

General Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 11th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 11th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.72%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on GE. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on General Electric from $165.00 to $192.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Vertical Research began coverage on General Electric in a report on Thursday, April 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $160.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on General Electric from $190.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays cut their price objective on General Electric from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on General Electric from $201.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Electric currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $181.93.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Electric

In other General Electric news, SVP Russell Stokes sold 45,309 shares of General Electric stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.82, for a total value of $7,377,211.38. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 112,958 shares in the company, valued at $18,391,821.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.66% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.