General Electric (NYSE:GE) Coverage Initiated at StockNews.com

StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) in a report released on Sunday. The brokerage issued a hold rating on the conglomerate’s stock.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on GE. TD Cowen upgraded General Electric from a hold rating to a buy rating and upped their target price for the stock from $175.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a market perform rating on shares of General Electric in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on General Electric from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on General Electric from $180.00 to $148.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on General Electric from $195.00 to $180.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, General Electric presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $167.29.

General Electric Stock Down 2.1 %

Shares of General Electric stock opened at $159.19 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $160.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $135.55. General Electric has a fifty-two week low of $76.87 and a fifty-two week high of $163.65. The firm has a market cap of $174.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.17. General Electric had a net margin of 13.95% and a return on equity of 10.88%. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.27 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that General Electric will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. This is a positive change from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.38%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 13,601 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total value of $1,843,615.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 48,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,552,351.45. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the firm’s 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 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 company insiders.

Institutional Trading of General Electric

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of General Electric by 29.3% during the fourth quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 28,311 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,613,000 after purchasing an additional 6,419 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of General Electric by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 261,187 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $33,335,000 after purchasing an additional 28,985 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of General Electric by 10.9% during the third quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 109,332 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $12,087,000 after purchasing an additional 10,722 shares in the last quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC boosted its position in shares of General Electric by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 269,783 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $34,432,000 after purchasing an additional 22,998 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. boosted its position in shares of General Electric by 51,152.3% during the third quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. now owns 22,551 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,493,000 after purchasing an additional 22,507 shares in the last quarter. 74.77% of the stock is 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.