General Electric (NYSE:GE) Trading 1.3% Higher – Time to Buy?

General Electric (NYSE:GE) traded up 1.3% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $166.94 and last traded at $166.92. 1,769,431 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 6,120,716 shares. The stock had previously closed at $164.80.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on GE shares. Melius Research increased their price target on shares of General Electric from $194.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of General Electric from $201.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of General Electric from $223.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of General Electric from $212.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on General Electric from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, General Electric currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.93.

General Electric Stock Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average price of $178.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $172.38. The firm has a market cap of $182.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $9.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.02 billion. General Electric had a net margin of 11.48% and a return on equity of 18.93%. General Electric’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.82 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that General Electric will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

General Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.68%.

Insider Activity

In other General Electric news, SVP Riccardo Procacci sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.13, for a total transaction of $1,267,910.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,407,036.57. This represents a 34.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Russell Stokes sold 15,550 shares of General Electric stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.29, for a total transaction of $2,772,409.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 148,857 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,539,714.53. This trade represents a 9.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of General Electric

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Studio Investment Management LLC grew its position in General Electric by 97.5% during the second quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 158 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp acquired a new position in shares of General Electric in the third quarter worth $25,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of General Electric during the third quarter worth $25,000. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in General Electric during the third quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in General Electric in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

General Electric Company Profile

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.