General Electric (NYSE:GE) Shares Up 2.2% After Analyst Upgrade

General Electric (NYSE:GE)’s stock price traded up 2.2% on Monday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $165.00 to $192.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. General Electric traded as high as $166.00 and last traded at $165.89. 2,300,001 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 8,036,834 shares. The stock had previously closed at $162.35.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of General Electric from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Vertical Research assumed coverage on General Electric in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $160.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on General Electric from $190.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Citigroup raised 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. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on shares of General Electric from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $172.29.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Electric

In related news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the business’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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 56,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,153,863.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of General Electric 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 56,284 shares in the company, valued at $8,153,863.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 13,601 shares of the company’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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,552,351.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.66% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

General Electric Stock Down 1.7 %

The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $161.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $137.17. The firm has a market cap of $177.05 billion, a PE ratio of 53.03, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.17.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.17. General Electric had a net margin of 5.05% and a return on equity of 12.54%. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.27 earnings per share. General Electric’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that General Electric will post 3.93 EPS for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 25th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th were issued a $0.28 dividend. This is an increase from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 12th. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.72%.

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.