Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. Sells 105 Shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. lessened its position in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 1.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,534 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 105 shares during the period. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc.’s holdings in General Electric were worth $1,147,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in General Electric by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 88,444,222 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $11,288,136,000 after acquiring an additional 550,996 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in General Electric during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,193,159,000. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in General Electric by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,955,511 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $990,032,000 after acquiring an additional 434,736 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its holdings in General Electric by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 6,655,053 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $849,385,000 after acquiring an additional 426,794 shares during the period. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. increased its holdings in General Electric by 62.3% during the 4th quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 4,881,752 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $623,058,000 after acquiring an additional 1,873,327 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Electric

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

General Electric Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of GE opened at $161.47 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $176.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.94, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.22. 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $162.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $151.85. General Electric has a twelve month low of $84.42 and a twelve month high of $170.80.

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

General Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 11th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 11th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. General Electric’s payout ratio is currently 36.72%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Argus increased their price target 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. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of General Electric in a report on Monday, April 29th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of General Electric from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of General Electric from $195.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of General Electric from $148.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $181.93.

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.