Hills Bank & Trust Co Buys 257 Shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE)

Hills Bank & Trust Co grew its position in General Electric (NYSE:GE) by 5.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,950 shares of the conglomerate’s stock after buying an additional 257 shares during the period. Hills Bank & Trust Co’s holdings in General Electric were worth $632,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of General Electric by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 4,316 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $550,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV boosted its holdings in shares of General Electric by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV now owns 4,067 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $519,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. raised its holdings in shares of General Electric by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 8,322 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,062,000 after buying an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. Capital Analysts LLC lifted its position in General Electric by 55.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 243 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Investment Counsel Inc boosted its stake in General Electric by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Investment Counsel Inc now owns 4,031 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $514,000 after buying an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Electric

In related news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were 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 directly 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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.66% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

General Electric Trading Down 0.8 %

GE stock traded down $1.36 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $167.50. 4,902,984 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,805,056. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $162.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $139.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $183.35 billion, a PE ratio of 54.92, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.17. General Electric has a one year low of $78.17 and a one year high of $170.80.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.27 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that General Electric will post 3.96 EPS for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 25th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th were paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 12th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. This is a boost from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is 36.72%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on GE shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on General Electric from $210.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. TD Cowen raised shares of 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on General Electric from $180.00 to $148.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Bank of America boosted their price target on General Electric from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on shares of General Electric in a research report on Monday, April 29th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, General Electric currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $172.29.

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.