General Electric (NYSE:GE) Stock Price Down 2.2% – Time to Sell?

General Electric (NYSE:GE)’s share price fell 2.2% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $180.44 and last traded at $180.60. 2,726,189 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 56% from the average session volume of 6,172,569 shares. The stock had previously closed at $184.60.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on General Electric from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America boosted their target price on General Electric from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on General Electric from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of General Electric from $212.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, October 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Electric presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $200.93.

General Electric Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day moving average is $183.01 and its 200-day moving average is $171.66. 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 stock has a market cap of $197.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.19.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.02. General Electric had a return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 11.48%. The business had revenue of $9.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.82 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that General Electric will post 4.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 26th were given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other General Electric news, SVP Riccardo Procacci sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.13, for a total transaction of $1,267,910.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,289 shares in the company, valued at $2,407,036.57. This represents a 34.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Russell Stokes sold 15,550 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.29, for a total value of $2,772,409.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 148,857 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,539,714.53. This trade represents a 9.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.66% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Electric

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Toth Financial Advisory Corp purchased a new stake in shares of General Electric during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. acquired a new stake in General Electric in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Electric during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of General Electric during the third quarter worth $28,000. Finally, Studio Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of General Electric by 97.5% in the second quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 158 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.