ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 629 Shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 1.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,227 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after selling 629 shares during the period. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in General Electric were worth $7,210,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of GE. State Street Corp boosted its stake in General Electric by 2.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 43,322,827 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $8,181,801,000 after acquiring an additional 898,296 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of General Electric by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 22,587,961 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $4,244,676,000 after purchasing an additional 156,272 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in shares of General Electric by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,405,731 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,336,257,000 after buying an additional 459,201 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in General Electric by 91.8% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 7,771,759 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,465,598,000 after buying an additional 3,719,894 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in General Electric by 6.7% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 6,556,515 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,236,428,000 after buying an additional 413,388 shares during the last quarter. 74.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Russell Stokes sold 15,550 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.29, for a total value of $2,772,409.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 148,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,539,714.53. This represents a 9.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Riccardo Procacci sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.13, for a total transaction of $1,267,910.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,407,036.57. The trade was a 34.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.66% of the stock is owned by insiders.

General Electric Price Performance

NYSE GE opened at $182.83 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $174.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $174.16. General Electric has a 52 week low of $101.16 and a 52 week high of $194.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $197.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.13, a PEG ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.19.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $9.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.02 billion. General Electric had a net margin of 11.48% and a return on equity of 18.93%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.82 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that General Electric will post 4.23 earnings per share for the current year.

General Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GE has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on General Electric from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of General Electric from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of General Electric from $198.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Melius Research raised their price target on shares of General Electric from $194.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Northcoast Research assumed coverage on shares of General Electric in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Electric presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.47.

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.