Merit Financial Group LLC Has $1.12 Million Stake in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Merit Financial Group LLC reduced its stake in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 56.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,752 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 11,187 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in General Electric were worth $1,117,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Halpern Financial Inc. grew its stake in shares of General Electric by 968.4% in the 4th quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. now owns 203 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Electric during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. CGC Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of General Electric by 90.2% during the 4th quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 232 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Capital Analysts LLC lifted its stake in shares of General Electric by 55.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 243 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bfsg LLC bought a new stake in General Electric in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. 74.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. TD Cowen upgraded General Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $175.00 to $180.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of General Electric in a research report on Monday, April 29th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of General Electric from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Argus lifted their target price on shares of General Electric from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of General Electric from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $172.29.

General Electric Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of GE stock opened at $164.11 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company has a market capitalization of $179.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.25. General Electric has a 12-month low of $77.93 and a 12-month high of $166.26. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $161.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $138.30.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.27 earnings per share. General Electric’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that General Electric will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.87, for a total transaction 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 $8,153,863.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

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.