ING Groep NV Sells 154,465 Shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE)

ING Groep NV decreased its holdings in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 61.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 97,963 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 154,465 shares during the period. ING Groep NV’s holdings in General Electric were worth $16,339,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of GE. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of General Electric by 5.2% during the third quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,364 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,954,000 after buying an additional 513 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Electric by 1.7% in the third quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 98,308 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $18,539,000 after purchasing an additional 1,670 shares during the period. McAdam LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Electric by 4.2% in the third quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 2,542 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $479,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Electric by 21,069.8% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,173,142 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $598,391,000 after purchasing an additional 3,158,153 shares during the period. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Electric by 19.5% in the third quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 9,587 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,808,000 after purchasing an additional 1,567 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

General Electric Price Performance

NYSE GE opened at $208.93 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $185.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $180.43. General Electric has a 1 year low of $118.13 and a 1 year high of $212.19. The company has a market cap of $224.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.88, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.22.

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

General Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This is an increase from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on GE shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of General Electric in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on General Electric in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $250.00 price target for the company. UBS Group upped their target price on General Electric from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Bank of America upped their target price on General Electric from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on General Electric from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, General Electric currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.