General Electric (NYSE:GE) Stock Price Up 1.5% After Analyst Upgrade

General Electric (NYSE:GE) was up 1.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $201.00 to $209.00. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. General Electric traded as high as $162.18 and last traded at $161.41. Approximately 815,007 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 7,273,167 shares. The stock had previously closed at $158.97.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on General Electric from $195.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 10th. Argus raised their price target on General Electric from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on General Electric from $190.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Bank of America boosted their target price 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of General Electric from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Electric currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $181.93.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Russell Stokes sold 45,309 shares of General Electric stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 112,958 shares in the company, valued at $18,391,821.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.66% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of General Electric

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Halpern Financial Inc. lifted its stake in General Electric by 968.4% during the fourth quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. now owns 203 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in General Electric in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. CGC Financial Services LLC raised its stake in General Electric by 90.2% during the fourth quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 232 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Capital Analysts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Electric by 55.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 243 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bfsg LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Electric in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

General Electric Stock Up 1.4 %

The company has a market capitalization of $176.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.17. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $162.36 and its 200-day moving average is $151.59.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.17. General Electric had a net margin of 5.05% and a return on equity of 12.54%. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.27 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that General Electric will post 4 EPS for the current year.

General Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 11th. General Electric’s payout ratio is 36.72%.

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.