General Electric (NYSE:GE) Stock Price Up 0.3%

Shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) rose 0.3% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $162.25 and last traded at $160.13. Approximately 1,210,521 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 7,940,988 shares. The stock had previously closed at $159.70.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Argus upped their target price on General Electric from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on General Electric from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. StockNews.com initiated coverage on General Electric in a report on Monday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their target price on General Electric from $210.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of General Electric in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $172.29.

General Electric Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $177.53 billion, a PE ratio of 52.50, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $161.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $137.33.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion for 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.27 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that General Electric will post 3.95 earnings per share for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th were given a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. This is a boost from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 12th. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.72%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Electric 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,552,351.45. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,552,351.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of General Electric

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its stake in General Electric by 9.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 139,128 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $15,381,000 after acquiring an additional 12,020 shares during the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management increased its stake in General Electric by 163.4% in the 3rd quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 5,577 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $617,000 after acquiring an additional 3,460 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates increased its stake in General Electric by 7.0% in the 3rd quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 595,259 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $65,806,000 after acquiring an additional 39,046 shares during the last quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. increased its stake in General Electric by 6.2% in the 3rd quarter. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. now owns 2,524 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $279,000 after acquiring an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Simon Quick Advisors LLC increased its stake in General Electric by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 4,126 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $456,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

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.