General Electric (NYSE:GE) Trading 1.6% Higher – Time to Buy?

General Electric (NYSE:GE) shares traded up 1.6% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $185.73 and last traded at $185.51. 675,414 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 6,238,397 shares. The stock had previously closed at $182.64.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GE has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group raised their price target on General Electric from $223.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of General Electric from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of General Electric from $198.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on shares of General Electric from $212.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of General Electric from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.93.

General Electric Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market cap of $193.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.81 and a beta of 1.19. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $181.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $170.43.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.02. General Electric had a return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 11.48%. The company had revenue of $9.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.82 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that General Electric will post 4.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 26th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.68%.

Insider Activity

In other General Electric news, SVP Riccardo Procacci sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.13, for a total value of $1,267,910.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,289 shares in the company, valued at $2,407,036.57. The trade was a 34.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.66% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of General Electric

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Studio Investment Management LLC increased its position in General Electric by 97.5% during the second quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 158 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp bought a new position in shares of General Electric in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. bought a new stake in General Electric during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in General Electric during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of General Electric in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 74.77% of the stock is 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.