General Electric (NYSE:GE) Now Covered by Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com started coverage on shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) in a research note released on Saturday. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the conglomerate’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of General Electric from $180.00 to $148.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Vertical Research started coverage on shares of General Electric in a report on Thursday, April 4th. They set a buy rating and a $160.00 target price for the company. TheStreet upgraded shares of General Electric from a c+ rating to a b+ rating in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of General Electric from $200.00 to $165.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Barclays lowered 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Electric has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $160.07.

General Electric Stock Performance

NYSE:GE opened at $156.76 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $171.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.73, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.29. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $158.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $133.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.85. General Electric has a 1-year low of $76.38 and a 1-year high of $158.68.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $19.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.27 billion. General Electric had a net margin of 13.95% and a return on equity of 10.88%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.24 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that General Electric will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is an increase from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. General Electric’s payout ratio is presently 13.38%.

Insider Transactions at General Electric

In related news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.87, for a total value of $3,195,107.85. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 56,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,153,863.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.87, for a total value of $3,195,107.85. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 56,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,153,863.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 13,601 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total transaction of $1,843,615.55. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,552,351.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Electric

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GE. Walker Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of General Electric by 1.7% during the first quarter. Walker Asset Management LLC now owns 4,111 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $722,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of General Electric by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 4,316 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $550,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of General Electric by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 6,377 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $814,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV lifted its position in shares of General Electric by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV now owns 4,067 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $519,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atlas Brown Inc. lifted its position in shares of General Electric by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 8,322 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,062,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares in the last quarter. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About General Electric

General Electric Company operates as a high-tech industrial company in Europe, China, Asia, the Americas, the Middle East, and Africa. It offers gas and steam turbines, full balance of plant, upgrade, and service solutions, as well as data-leveraging software for power generation, industrial, government, and other customers.