General Electric (NYSE:GE) Trading Up 0.4%

General Electric (NYSE:GE) shares traded up 0.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $161.00 and last traded at $160.41. 844,335 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 7,344,090 shares. The stock had previously closed at $159.73.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on GE. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of General Electric in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on General Electric from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Citigroup boosted their price target on General Electric from $120.43 to $186.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on General Electric from $195.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on General Electric from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $177.27.

General Electric Stock Down 0.1 %

The company has a fifty day moving average price of $161.99 and a 200-day moving average price of $150.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $175.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.63, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.25 billion. General Electric had a return on equity of 12.54% and a net margin of 5.05%. The company’s revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.27 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that General Electric will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 11th. General Electric’s payout ratio is 36.72%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 112,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,391,821.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of General Electric

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Choate Investment Advisors lifted its holdings in General Electric by 0.4% in the first quarter. Choate Investment Advisors now owns 16,000 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,808,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Walker Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Electric by 1.7% during the 1st quarter. Walker Asset Management LLC now owns 4,111 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $722,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC lifted its stake in shares of General Electric by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC now owns 1,956 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $343,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. BKM Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of General Electric by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,821 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $495,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. Finally, Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC boosted its holdings in General Electric by 1.9% during the first quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 3,777 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $663,000 after buying an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

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.