First Bank & Trust Acquires New Shares in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

First Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in General Electric (NYSE:GE) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,312 shares of the conglomerate’s stock, valued at approximately $230,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Halpern Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of General Electric by 968.4% in the fourth quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. now owns 203 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Electric in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. CGC Financial Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Electric by 90.2% in the fourth quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 232 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Capital Analysts LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Electric by 55.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 243 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bfsg LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Electric in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at General Electric

In other General Electric news, SVP Russell Stokes sold 45,309 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.82, for a total transaction of $7,377,211.38. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 112,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,391,821.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.66% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

General Electric Stock Performance

GE opened at $158.97 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $174.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.12, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. General Electric has a 12-month low of $84.42 and a 12-month high of $170.80. The business has a 50 day moving average of $162.36 and a 200-day moving average of $151.37.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.25 billion. General Electric had a return on equity of 12.54% and a net margin of 5.05%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.27 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that General Electric will post 4 earnings per share for the current year.

General Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 11th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.72%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on GE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on General Electric from $148.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. TD Cowen upgraded General Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $175.00 to $180.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of General Electric in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on General Electric from $165.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Vertical Research began coverage on General Electric in a report on Thursday, April 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $160.00 price objective for the company. 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 data from MarketBeat.com, General Electric currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $181.36.

General Electric 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.