General Electric (NYSE:GE) Stock Position Reduced by Park National Corp OH

Park National Corp OH cut its stake in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 24.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,517 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 3,637 shares during the period. Park National Corp OH’s holdings in General Electric were worth $2,022,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in General Electric by 29.3% during the fourth quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 28,311 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,613,000 after purchasing an additional 6,419 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in General Electric by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 261,187 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $33,335,000 after acquiring an additional 28,985 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its position in General Electric by 10.9% in the third quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 109,332 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $12,087,000 after acquiring an additional 10,722 shares in the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas grew its position in General Electric by 24,042.9% in the fourth quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 10,140 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,294,000 after acquiring an additional 10,098 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Grandfield & Dodd LLC grew its position in General Electric by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 269,783 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $34,432,000 after acquiring an additional 22,998 shares in the last quarter. 74.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

General Electric Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of GE stock opened at $164.97 on Wednesday. General Electric has a 52-week low of $82.11 and a 52-week high of $170.80. The stock has a market cap of $180.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.74 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.17. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $161.18 and a 200-day moving average of $149.27.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.27 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that General Electric will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 25th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 12th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. This is a boost from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of General Electric from $148.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of General Electric from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of General Electric from $191.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of General Electric from $190.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, April 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $177.27.

General Electric Company 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.