Brokerages Set General Electric (NYSE:GE) Target Price at $196.86

Shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $198.53.

GE has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com lowered General Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on General Electric from $192.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of General Electric from $212.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of General Electric from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of General Electric from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th.

General Electric Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GE opened at $176.59 on Friday. General Electric has a 12-month low of $84.58 and a 12-month high of $194.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The company has a market cap of $193.30 billion, a PE ratio of 57.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.18. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $179.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $168.05.

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

General Electric Dividend Announcement

The company 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 0.63%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 26th. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is 36.72%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Electric

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. grew its position in shares of General Electric by 169.2% during the 3rd quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc. now owns 2,455 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $463,000 after buying an additional 1,543 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in General Electric by 19.5% during the third quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 9,587 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,808,000 after purchasing an additional 1,567 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in General Electric by 21,069.8% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,173,142 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $598,391,000 after purchasing an additional 3,158,153 shares during the period. McAdam LLC raised its holdings in General Electric by 4.2% in the third quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 2,542 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $479,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Finally, Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI increased its position in shares of General Electric by 20.5% in the 3rd quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 74,638 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $14,075,000 after buying an additional 12,713 shares in the last quarter. 74.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.