General Electric (NYSE:GE) Price Target Raised to $185.00 at Jefferies Financial Group

General Electric (NYSE:GE) had its target price hoisted by Jefferies Financial Group from $180.00 to $185.00 in a research note released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the conglomerate’s stock.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Vertical Research assumed coverage on shares of General Electric in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. They issued a buy rating and a $160.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of General Electric from $120.43 to $186.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of General Electric from $180.00 to $148.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. TD Cowen upgraded General Electric from a hold rating to a buy rating and boosted their price target for the company from $175.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Argus increased their price target on General Electric from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Electric currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $172.29.

General Electric Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:GE opened at $164.49 on Monday. General Electric has a 12-month low of $77.93 and a 12-month high of $166.07. The business has a 50 day moving average of $161.02 and a 200-day moving average of $136.80. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market cap of $180.05 billion, a PE ratio of 53.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.29.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.17. General Electric had a return on equity of 12.54% and a net margin of 5.05%. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.25 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.27 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that General Electric will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at General Electric

In related news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of General Electric 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 56,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,153,863.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other General Electric news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 13,601 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was 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 approximately $6,552,351.45. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.87, for a total value 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of General Electric

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of General Electric in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,193,159,000. WCM Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in General Electric in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $520,488,000. Brown Advisory Inc. increased its position in General Electric by 265.7% during the 3rd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 3,008,425 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $332,581,000 after purchasing an additional 2,185,793 shares during the period. Lone Pine Capital LLC bought a new position in General Electric during the 4th quarter worth approximately $268,519,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in General Electric by 11,947.8% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,576,570 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $201,218,000 after purchasing an additional 1,563,484 shares during the last quarter. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.