General Electric (NYSE:GE) Shares Down 0.6%

General Electric (NYSE:GE)’s stock price dropped 0.6% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $165.62 and last traded at $166.98. Approximately 1,417,557 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 6,955,644 shares. The stock had previously closed at $167.96.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GE has been the subject of several analyst reports. Argus raised their target price on shares of General Electric from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of General Electric from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. UBS Group raised their price target on General Electric from $201.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on General Electric from $190.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on General Electric from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $190.38.

General Electric Stock Down 0.3 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a market cap of $185.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.63, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $163.09 and a 200 day moving average of $159.86.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.21. General Electric had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 7.66%. The firm had revenue of $9.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.44 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.68 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that General Electric will post 4.15 earnings per share for the current year.

General Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 11th were given a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 11th. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Electric

In other General Electric news, SVP Russell Stokes sold 45,309 shares of General Electric stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.82, for a total value of $7,377,211.38. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 112,958 shares in the company, valued at $18,391,821.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of General Electric

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted 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 worth $11,288,136,000 after acquiring an additional 550,996 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of General Electric by 9.9% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 59,100,643 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $10,373,936,000 after acquiring an additional 5,309,543 shares during the period. Newport Trust Company LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Electric in the second quarter worth approximately $2,613,332,000. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of General Electric by 2,818.1% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,749,560 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,237,930,000 after acquiring an additional 12,312,648 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of General Electric in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,193,159,000. 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.