General Electric (NYSE:GE) Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) were down 0.1% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $159.84 and last traded at $160.37. Approximately 860,181 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 7,284,463 shares. The stock had previously closed at $160.50.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on GE. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of General Electric from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of General Electric from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Vertical Research began coverage on shares of General Electric in a report on Thursday, April 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $160.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of General Electric in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of General Electric from $191.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $177.60.

General Electric Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $173.33 billion, a PE ratio of 52.24, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $161.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $150.84.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.25 billion. General Electric had a net margin of 5.05% and a return on equity of 12.54%. The business’s revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.27 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that General Electric will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 11th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 11th. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is 36.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Russell Stokes sold 45,309 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.82, for a total value of $7,377,211.38. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 112,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,391,821.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.66% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Electric

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Morningstar Investment Services LLC bought a new position in shares of General Electric during the third quarter valued at approximately $246,000. Teza Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of General Electric during the third quarter valued at approximately $205,000. Ancora Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of General Electric by 5.5% during the third quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC now owns 1,776 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $196,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of General Electric by 12.2% during the third quarter. Richard Bernstein Advisors LLC now owns 29,957 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,312,000 after purchasing an additional 3,261 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rehmann Capital Advisory Group boosted its stake in shares of General Electric by 8.1% during the third quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 2,615 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $289,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.