General Electric (NYSE:GE) Trading 0.4% Higher

Shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) rose 0.4% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $166.30 and last traded at $165.55. Approximately 1,190,176 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 7,301,620 shares. The stock had previously closed at $164.97.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on GE. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on General Electric from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Barclays cut their price objective on General Electric from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of General Electric from $165.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on General Electric from $190.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, Argus upped their price target on General Electric from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $177.27.

General Electric Stock Down 0.6 %

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $161.35 and its 200-day moving average price is $149.38. The company has a market capitalization of $179.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.23. 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 released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.25 billion. General Electric had a return on equity of 12.54% and a net margin of 5.05%. General Electric’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.27 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that General Electric will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th were given a $0.28 dividend. This is an increase from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 12th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.68%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.72%.

Insider Transactions at General Electric

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Halpern Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of General Electric by 968.4% during the fourth quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. now owns 203 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Electric during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. CGC Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in General Electric by 90.2% during the 4th quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 232 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Capital Analysts LLC raised its stake in shares of General Electric by 55.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 243 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bfsg LLC bought a new position in General Electric during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. 74.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.