General Electric (NYSE:GE) Trading 0.6% Higher

General Electric (NYSE:GE) shares traded up 0.6% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $170.19 and last traded at $169.78. 1,166,450 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average session volume of 7,793,359 shares. The stock had previously closed at $168.78.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on GE shares. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of General Electric in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. 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 report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on General Electric from $210.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of General Electric from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of General Electric from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $172.29.

General Electric Stock Up 0.0 %

The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $162.49 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $139.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $184.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.67, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $15.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.27 EPS. General Electric’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that General Electric will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 25th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 12th. This is a positive change from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. General Electric’s payout ratio is 36.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 56,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,153,863.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.66% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of General Electric by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 88,444,222 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $11,288,136,000 after buying an additional 550,996 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in General Electric by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,588,433 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,170,551,000 after purchasing an additional 410,061 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in General Electric during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,193,159,000. Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of General Electric by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,955,511 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $990,032,000 after purchasing an additional 434,736 shares during the period. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main boosted its stake in shares of General Electric by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 6,655,053 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $849,385,000 after purchasing an additional 426,794 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.