General Electric (NYSE:GE) Trading 2.2% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

General Electric (NYSE:GE) shares were up 2.2% on Thursday after Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on the stock from $175.00 to $190.00. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the stock. General Electric traded as high as $165.94 and last traded at $165.81. Approximately 2,863,940 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 60% from the average daily volume of 7,120,516 shares. The stock had previously closed at $162.30.

Several other analysts also recently commented on the company. Argus raised their price objective on General Electric from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of General Electric from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of General Electric in a research report on Monday, April 29th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of General Electric from $120.43 to $186.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of General Electric from $192.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Electric currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $183.93.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Trading of General Electric

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Halpern Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of General Electric by 968.4% in the fourth quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. now owns 203 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the period. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Electric in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Capital Analysts LLC boosted its stake in shares of General Electric by 55.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 243 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in General Electric during the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Bfsg LLC bought a new position in General Electric during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

General Electric Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $162.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $155.95. The stock has a market cap of $181.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.82 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $9.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.44 billion. General Electric had a return on equity of 14.59% and a net margin of 7.66%. General Electric’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.68 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that General Electric will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current year.

General Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 11th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 11th. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.