Lakeside Advisors INC. Sells 2,842 Shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Lakeside Advisors INC. lessened its position in General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 19.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,604 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 2,842 shares during the period. General Electric makes up about 1.0% of Lakeside Advisors INC.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Lakeside Advisors INC.’s holdings in General Electric were worth $1,481,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GE. Halpern Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of General Electric by 968.4% during 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. CGC Financial Services LLC increased its position in shares of General Electric by 90.2% during 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 position in shares of General Electric by 55.8% during 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. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. increased its position in shares of General Electric by 808.1% during the first quarter. Global Wealth Management Investment Advisory Inc. now owns 336 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 299 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Financial Freedom LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Electric during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GE has been the subject of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on shares of General Electric from $210.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of General Electric from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 8th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of General Electric in a research note on Saturday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. TD Cowen upgraded shares of General Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $175.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of General Electric from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note 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 data from MarketBeat, General Electric has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $160.07.

General Electric Price Performance

GE stock traded up $3.06 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $156.76. The stock had a trading volume of 6,187,178 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,443,114. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. General Electric has a 52 week low of $76.38 and a 52 week high of $158.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $171.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.73, a P/E/G ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 1.29. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $158.53 and a 200 day simple moving average of $133.81.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.27 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.24 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that General Electric will post 3.78 EPS for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 an increase 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 is Friday, April 12th. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.38%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of General Electric 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 56,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,153,863.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 13,601 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total value 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.87, for a total transaction of $3,195,107.85. Following the completion of 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. 0.66% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.