Eastern Bank Acquires New Position in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Eastern Bank bought a new position in General Electric (NYSE:GE) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 10,130 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $1,910,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Studio Investment Management LLC raised its stake in General Electric by 97.5% during the 2nd quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 158 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp purchased a new position in General Electric in the third quarter worth about $25,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Electric during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of General Electric during the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of General Electric in the 1st quarter worth approximately $34,000. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Electric Stock Performance

NYSE:GE opened at $176.59 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a market cap of $193.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.90, a PEG ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.18. General Electric has a 1 year low of $84.58 and a 1 year high of $194.80. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $179.24 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $168.05.

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

General Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 26th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 26th. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is 36.72%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of General Electric from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on General Electric from $190.00 to $210.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on General Electric from $212.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of General Electric from $201.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of General Electric from $192.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $198.53.

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.