KLCM Advisors Inc. Purchases 463 Shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE)

KLCM Advisors Inc. grew its position in General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,014 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 463 shares during the period. KLCM Advisors Inc.’s holdings in General Electric were worth $1,023,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp raised its stake in General Electric by 17.3% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 48,490,012 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $4,639,533,000 after purchasing an additional 7,157,356 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of General Electric by 122,242.2% in the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,438,063 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $878,644,000 after buying an additional 13,427,079 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of General Electric by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,588,433 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,170,551,000 after buying an additional 410,061 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of General Electric by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,955,511 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $990,032,000 after buying an additional 434,736 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of General Electric in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $635,274,000. Institutional investors own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

General Electric Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:GE traded up $3.06 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $156.76. The stock had a trading volume of 6,187,178 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,443,114. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $158.53 and its 200 day moving average is $133.81. 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 has a 52 week low of $76.38 and a 52 week high of $158.68. The stock has a market cap of $171.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.73, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.29.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. General Electric had a net margin of 13.95% and a return on equity of 10.88%. The company had revenue of $19.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.24 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that General Electric will post 3.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. This is a positive change from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.38%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 56,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,153,863.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 13,601 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were 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 owns 48,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,552,351.45. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 56,284 shares in the company, 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on GE shares. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of General Electric from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of General Electric from $195.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of General Electric from $200.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of General Electric in a research report on Saturday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of General Electric from $180.00 to $148.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $160.07.

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.