General Electric (NYSE:GE) Price Target Raised to $180.00 at Argus

General Electric (NYSE:GE) had its price objective raised by Argus from $170.00 to $180.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the conglomerate’s stock.

GE has been the subject of a number of other reports. Vertical Research started coverage on General Electric in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. They issued a buy rating and a $160.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on General Electric from $180.00 to $148.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com started coverage on General Electric in a research report on Sunday, April 21st. They issued a hold rating for the company. TheStreet upgraded General Electric from a c+ rating to a b+ rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on General Electric from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $170.00.

General Electric Price Performance

Shares of General Electric stock opened at $162.35 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $160.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $136.27. General Electric has a 12 month low of $77.28 and a 12 month high of $163.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $177.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.23, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.17. General Electric had a return on equity of 12.54% and a net margin of 5.05%. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.27 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that General Electric will post 3.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Electric news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of General Electric stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 56,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,153,863.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 13,601 shares of General Electric stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total transaction of $1,843,615.55. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 48,339 shares in the company, valued at $6,552,351.45. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of General Electric stock in a transaction dated 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.66% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of General Electric

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Halpern Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of General Electric by 968.4% during the fourth quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. now owns 203 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in General Electric in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. CGC Financial Services LLC increased its position in General Electric by 90.2% in the 4th quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 232 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. Capital Analysts LLC increased its position in General Electric by 55.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 243 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the period. Finally, Bfsg LLC acquired a new position in General Electric in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.