Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. Trims Stake in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. cut its stake in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 37.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,719 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 1,654 shares during the period. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd.’s holdings in General Electric were worth $347,000 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 grew its position in shares of General Electric by 29.3% during the fourth quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 28,311 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,613,000 after purchasing an additional 6,419 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in shares of General Electric by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 261,187 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $33,335,000 after buying an additional 28,985 shares during the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 10,722 shares in the last quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. boosted its position in shares of General Electric by 51,152.3% during the third quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. now owns 22,551 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,493,000 after acquiring an additional 22,507 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qsemble Capital Management LP purchased a new position in General Electric during the third quarter valued at $1,846,000. Institutional investors own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of General Electric from $210.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of General Electric in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Bank of America dropped their target price on General Electric from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on General Electric from $200.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded General Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $175.00 to $180.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $160.07.

General Electric Stock Performance

Shares of GE stock opened at $153.71 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $168.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.36, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.29. General Electric has a 52-week low of $76.38 and a 52-week high of $158.68. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The company’s 50 day moving average is $158.14 and its 200 day moving average is $133.49.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $19.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.27 billion. General Electric had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 13.95%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.24 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that General Electric will post 3.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This is an increase from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.73%. General Electric’s payout ratio is currently 13.38%.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Electric

In other news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of General Electric stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.87, for a total value of $3,195,107.85. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 56,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,153,863.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 13,601 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total transaction of $1,843,615.55. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,552,351.45. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.87, for a total value of $3,195,107.85. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 56,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,153,863.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

General Electric Profile

General Electric Company operates as a high-tech industrial company in Europe, China, Asia, the Americas, the Middle East, and Africa. It offers gas and steam turbines, full balance of plant, upgrade, and service solutions, as well as data-leveraging software for power generation, industrial, government, and other customers.