Bank of America Boosts General Electric (NYSE:GE) Price Target to $180.00

General Electric (NYSE:GE) had its target price lifted by Bank of America from $165.00 to $180.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the conglomerate’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. TD Cowen upgraded shares of General Electric from a hold rating to a buy rating and upped their price target for the company from $175.00 to $180.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. TheStreet upgraded shares of General Electric from a c+ rating to a b+ rating in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of General Electric from $195.00 to $180.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of General Electric from $200.00 to $165.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of General Electric from $210.00 to $190.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $170.00.

General Electric Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE GE opened at $162.35 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $160.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $136.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $177.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.23, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.29. General Electric has a 12-month low of $77.28 and a 12-month high of $163.65.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.25 billion. General Electric had a net margin of 5.05% and a return on equity of 12.54%. The business’s revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.27 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that General Electric will post 3.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 12th. This is an increase from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.72%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were 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 directly owns 56,284 shares in the company, valued at $8,153,863.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were 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 directly owns 56,284 shares in the company, valued at $8,153,863.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 13,601 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 48,339 shares in the company, valued at $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

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC purchased a new stake in General Electric during the third quarter valued at approximately $224,000. Summit Global Investments purchased a new stake in General Electric during the third quarter valued at approximately $218,000. RFG Advisory LLC lifted its position in General Electric by 9.6% during the third quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 3,197 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $353,000 after acquiring an additional 280 shares during the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its position in General Electric by 6.9% during the third quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 26,440 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,923,000 after acquiring an additional 1,706 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in General Electric by 25.8% during the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,872 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $428,000 after acquiring an additional 794 shares during the last quarter. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.