Sapient Capital LLC Makes New Investment in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Sapient Capital LLC purchased a new position in General Electric (NYSE:GE) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 2,597 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $331,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in 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 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 4th 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 in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of General Electric by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 109,332 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $12,087,000 after buying an additional 10,722 shares in the last quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. raised its position in shares of General Electric by 51,152.3% during the 3rd quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. now owns 22,551 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,493,000 after buying an additional 22,507 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qsemble Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of General Electric during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,846,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at General Electric

In related news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the 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 owns 56,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,153,863.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other General Electric news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 56,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,153,863.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 13,601 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 48,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,552,351.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.66% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of General Electric from $195.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of General Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $175.00 to $180.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of General Electric from $200.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of General Electric in a report on Saturday. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of General Electric from $210.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $160.07.

General Electric Price Performance

Shares of GE opened at $154.63 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $157.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $133.19. General Electric has a fifty-two week low of $74.78 and a fifty-two week high of $158.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $169.05 billion, a PE ratio of 18.47, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.18.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. General Electric had a net margin of 13.95% and a return on equity of 10.88%. The firm had revenue of $19.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.27 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.24 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that General Electric will post 3.78 earnings per share 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. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is a boost from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is presently 3.82%.

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.