The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Cuts Stake in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company reduced its position in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 894,786 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 6,860 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company’s holdings in General Electric were worth $142,244,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GE. Studio Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of General Electric by 97.5% during the 2nd quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 158 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Electric in the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new stake in General Electric during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new position in General Electric during the second quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in General Electric in the first quarter valued at about $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on General Electric from $192.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. StockNews.com downgraded General Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on General Electric from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of General Electric in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $201.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of General Electric from $201.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Electric presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $191.36.

General Electric Price Performance

GE stock opened at $185.39 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $202.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.87 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. General Electric has a 52-week low of $84.42 and a 52-week high of $190.88. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $171.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $170.35.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.21. General Electric had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 7.66%. The firm had revenue of $9.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.44 billion. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.68 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that General Electric will post 4.2 EPS for the current year.

General Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.60%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 26th. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.72%.

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.