Sanford C. Bernstein Increases General Electric (NYSE:GE) Price Target to $225.00

General Electric (NYSE:GE) had its price target hoisted by Sanford C. Bernstein from $201.00 to $225.00 in a research report sent to investors on Monday, MarketBeat reports. The firm currently has an outperform rating on the conglomerate’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of General Electric from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of General Electric from $198.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of General Electric from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of General Electric from $201.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Monday, July 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of General Electric from $192.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, General Electric presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $196.86.

General Electric Stock Performance

Shares of GE opened at $192.63 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 0.85. General Electric has a one year low of $84.42 and a one year high of $193.93. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $176.30 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $166.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $210.85 billion, a PE ratio of 63.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.18.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.21. General Electric had a net margin of 7.66% and a return on equity of 16.07%. The business had revenue of $9.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.44 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.68 earnings per share. General Electric’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that General Electric will post 4.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 26th. General Electric’s payout ratio is 36.72%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Electric

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Creative Planning lifted its stake in General Electric by 9.0% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 196,581 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $37,071,000 after acquiring an additional 16,258 shares during the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. increased its stake in General Electric by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 60,935 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $11,491,000 after buying an additional 3,643 shares during the period. Sivia Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in General Electric by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,466 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $465,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Grove Bank & Trust grew its stake in shares of General Electric by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 3,382 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $638,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Electric in the 3rd quarter worth about $240,000. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.