General Electric (NYSE:GE) Stock Price Down 0.3%

General Electric (NYSE:GE) dropped 0.3% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $162.36 and last traded at $162.77. Approximately 1,396,763 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 7,323,217 shares. The stock had previously closed at $163.23.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GE has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of General Electric from $191.00 to $201.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of General Electric from $165.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Vertical Research initiated coverage on shares of General Electric in a report on Thursday, April 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $160.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of General Electric in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of General Electric from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Electric presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $177.27.

General Electric Stock Up 1.1 %

The company’s 50-day moving average is $161.35 and its 200 day moving average is $149.38. The company has a market capitalization of $180.58 billion, a PE ratio of 54.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.23. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.27 EPS. General Electric’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that General Electric will post 3.99 EPS for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at General Electric

In other General Electric news, SVP Russell Stokes sold 45,309 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.82, for a total transaction of $7,377,211.38. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 112,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,391,821.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Electric

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of General Electric by 2,818.1% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,749,560 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,237,930,000 after purchasing an additional 12,312,648 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of General Electric in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,193,159,000. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in shares of General Electric by 9.9% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 59,100,643 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $10,373,936,000 after purchasing an additional 5,309,543 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in shares of General Electric by 221.6% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 7,121,741 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,250,079,000 after purchasing an additional 4,907,530 shares during the period. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of General Electric in the 4th quarter worth approximately $520,488,000. Institutional investors own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

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.