Valley National Advisers Inc. Sells 2,007 Shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Valley National Advisers Inc. trimmed its position in General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 51.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,877 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 2,007 shares during the period. Valley National Advisers Inc.’s holdings in General Electric were worth $329,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of GE. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of General Electric by 29.3% in the 4th quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 28,311 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,613,000 after acquiring an additional 6,419 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in General Electric by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 261,187 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $33,335,000 after purchasing an additional 28,985 shares in the last quarter. USA Financial Formulas lifted its holdings in General Electric by 24,042.9% during 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 during the period. Grandfield & Dodd LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 22,998 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rathbones Group PLC grew its stake in General Electric by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 225,814 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $28,821,000 after purchasing an additional 5,997 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on GE shares. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of General Electric in a research note on Monday, April 29th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Vertical Research assumed coverage on General Electric in a report on Thursday, April 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $160.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on General Electric from $148.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. Argus boosted their price objective on General Electric from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of General Electric from $165.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, General Electric currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $181.93.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Electric

In other 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 directly owns 112,958 shares in the company, valued at $18,391,821.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.66% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

General Electric Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE GE opened at $163.06 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $178.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.46, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.82. General Electric has a one year low of $84.42 and a one year high of $170.80. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $162.51 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $152.12.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.25 billion. General Electric had a return on equity of 12.54% and a net margin of 5.05%. General Electric’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.27 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that General Electric will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 11th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.72%.

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.