General Electric (NYSE:GE) Shares Up 1.5% Following Analyst Upgrade

General Electric (NYSE:GE)’s stock price rose 1.5% during trading on Tuesday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $201.00 to $209.00. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. General Electric traded as high as $162.18 and last traded at $161.41. Approximately 815,007 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 7,273,167 shares. The stock had previously closed at $158.97.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on GE. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of General Electric from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. TD Cowen raised shares of General Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $175.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of General Electric in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of General Electric from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of General Electric from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $181.93.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Electric news, SVP Russell Stokes sold 45,309 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 112,958 shares in the company, valued at $18,391,821.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Electric

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GE. Marcum Wealth LLC grew its stake in General Electric by 8.4% in the 2nd quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 2,922 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $465,000 after buying an additional 226 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV raised its stake in General Electric by 7.8% during the second quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 4,140 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $658,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its holdings in General Electric by 15.0% in the second quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 3,822 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $608,000 after purchasing an additional 499 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Electric by 25.4% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 16,999 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,702,000 after buying an additional 3,442 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trust Co of the South grew its holdings in shares of General Electric by 1.2% during the second quarter. Trust Co of the South now owns 5,909 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $939,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. 74.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

General Electric Trading Up 1.6 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $176.75 billion, a PE ratio of 52.65, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $162.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $151.85.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.17. General Electric had a net margin of 5.05% and a return on equity of 12.54%. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.27 EPS. General Electric’s revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that General Electric will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 11th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.72%.

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.