Valmark Advisers Inc. Has $875,000 Stock Position in General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Valmark Advisers Inc. boosted its holdings in General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 30.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,859 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,611 shares during the quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc.’s holdings in General Electric were worth $875,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Halpern Financial Inc. grew its position in General Electric by 968.4% in the 4th quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. now owns 203 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Electric in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. CGC Financial Services LLC grew 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 valued at $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 valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bfsg LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Electric during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. 74.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on GE. Argus lifted their price objective on shares of General Electric from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on General Electric from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. TD Cowen raised General Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $175.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of General Electric in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded General Electric from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.00.

General Electric Price Performance

Shares of General Electric stock traded up $1.09 on Friday, hitting $162.35. 5,898,021 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,321,559. General Electric has a 12-month low of $77.28 and a 12-month high of $163.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company has a market cap of $177.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.23, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.29. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $160.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $136.27.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.25 billion. General Electric had a return on equity of 12.54% and a net margin of 5.05%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.27 EPS. Analysts expect that General Electric will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th were issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 12th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.69%. This is an increase from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. General Electric’s payout ratio is currently 36.72%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the 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 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 13,601 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total value of $1,843,615.55. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,552,351.45. The transaction was disclosed in a legal 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 stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.87, for a total value 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 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.

About General Electric

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.