General Electric (NYSE:GE) Short Interest Up 7.6% in November

General Electric (NYSE:GE) was the target of a large growth in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 12,130,000 shares, a growth of 7.6% from the October 31st total of 11,270,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,600,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.6 days. Approximately 1.1% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America boosted their price objective on General Electric from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on General Electric from $201.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. UBS Group upped their target price on General Electric from $223.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on General Electric from $212.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on General Electric from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.93.

General Electric Price Performance

Shares of General Electric stock opened at $180.41 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The company has a market cap of $195.25 billion, a PE ratio of 31.71, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.19. The business has a 50 day moving average of $183.01 and a 200 day moving average of $171.80. General Electric has a 52 week low of $94.54 and a 52 week high of $194.80.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $9.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.02 billion. General Electric had a return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 11.48%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.82 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that General Electric will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current year.

General Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 26th were paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Electric

In other General Electric news, SVP Riccardo Procacci sold 7,000 shares of General Electric 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,407,036.57. The trade was a 34.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Russell Stokes sold 15,550 shares of the business’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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 148,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,539,714.53. The trade was a 9.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Electric

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