General Electric (NYSE:GE) Trading Up 0.2% – Here’s Why

General Electric (NYSE:GE)’s stock price traded up 0.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $166.63 and last traded at $166.09. Approximately 1,589,367 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 6,112,062 shares. The stock had previously closed at $165.80.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on GE. Citigroup raised their price target on General Electric from $198.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on General Electric from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. UBS Group boosted their target price on General Electric from $223.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of General Electric from $212.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Melius Research lifted their price target on shares of General Electric from $194.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.93.

General Electric Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $178.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $172.38. The stock has a market cap of $178.36 billion, a PE ratio of 28.96, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.17.

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

General Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Electric

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GE. Lantz Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of General Electric by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Lantz Financial LLC now owns 3,718 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $591,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in General Electric in the second quarter worth $408,000. Diversified LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Electric in the second quarter worth $268,000. Secure Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Electric by 170.5% during the second quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 3,760 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $598,000 after acquiring an additional 2,370 shares in the last quarter. Finally, McAdam LLC raised its position in shares of General Electric by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 2,439 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $388,000 after purchasing an additional 133 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.