General Electric (NYSE:GE) Stock Price Up 0.8%

Shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) rose 0.8% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $158.00 and last traded at $156.92. Approximately 1,230,728 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 7,914,947 shares. The stock had previously closed at $155.67.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of General Electric from $210.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. TD Cowen raised shares of General Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $175.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on shares of General Electric from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of General Electric in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of General Electric in a research note on Saturday, April 13th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $160.07.

General Electric Stock Down 1.0 %

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $158.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $133.96. The firm has a market cap of $168.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.42, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. General Electric had a net margin of 13.95% and a return on equity of 10.88%. The business had revenue of $19.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.24 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that General Electric will post 3.78 earnings per share for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 25th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. This is an increase from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.38%.

Insider Activity at General Electric

In related news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were 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 owns 56,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,153,863.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 13,601 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total transaction of $1,843,615.55. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 48,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,552,351.45. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of General Electric stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.66% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Electric

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Walker Asset Management LLC grew its position in General Electric by 1.7% in the 1st quarter. Walker Asset Management LLC now owns 4,111 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $722,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the period. BKM Wealth Management LLC grew its position in General Electric by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,821 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $495,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. grew its position in General Electric by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 4,316 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $550,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the period. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its position in General Electric by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 6,377 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $814,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, Forte Capital LLC ADV grew its position in General Electric by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV now owns 4,067 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $519,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares during the period. 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.