General Electric (NYSE:GE) Shares Up 0.6%

Shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) were up 0.6% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $173.17 and last traded at $171.96. Approximately 1,194,526 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 6,760,364 shares. The stock had previously closed at $170.99.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on GE. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on General Electric from $195.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on General Electric from $201.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 1st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of General Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Barclays lifted their price target on General Electric from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of General Electric from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Electric presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $190.38.

General Electric Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $164.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $161.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $187.17 billion, a PE ratio of 56.51, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.21.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last posted 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 net margin of 7.66% and a return on equity of 16.07%. The company had revenue of $9.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.44 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.68 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that General Electric will post 4.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Dividend Announcement

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Electric

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. USA Financial Formulas lifted its position in General Electric by 24,042.9% during the fourth quarter. USA Financial Formulas now owns 10,140 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,294,000 after buying an additional 10,098 shares in the last quarter. Rathbones Group PLC lifted its holdings in General Electric by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 225,814 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $28,821,000 after acquiring an additional 5,997 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in General Electric by 8.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,184,772 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $534,123,000 after purchasing an additional 318,245 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in General Electric by 0.6% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Finally, Sheets Smith Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of General Electric during the 4th quarter valued at $3,959,000. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.