General Electric (NYSE:GE) Shares Gap Up Following Earnings Beat

General Electric (NYSE:GE)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock had previously closed at $150.19, but opened at $157.83. General Electric shares last traded at $156.47, with a volume of 3,871,396 shares traded.

The conglomerate reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.25 billion. General Electric had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 13.95%. General Electric’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.27 earnings per share.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This is an increase from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.38%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays reduced their price objective on General Electric from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on General Electric from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of General Electric in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. StockNews.com started coverage on General Electric in a research note on Sunday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, TheStreet raised General Electric from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Electric currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $160.07.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Electric

In other General Electric news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.87, for a total transaction of $3,195,107.85. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 56,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,153,863.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $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 that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total value of $1,843,615.55. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 48,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,552,351.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.66% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Electric

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GE. Walker Asset Management LLC raised its stake in General Electric by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Walker Asset Management LLC now owns 4,111 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $722,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in General Electric by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,821 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $495,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. raised its stake in General Electric by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 4,316 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $550,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC raised its stake in General Electric by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 6,377 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $814,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Forte Capital LLC ADV raised its stake in General Electric by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV now owns 4,067 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $519,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

General Electric Stock Up 5.9 %

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $159.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $135.03. The stock has a market cap of $173.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

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.