General Electric (NYSE:GE) Shares Up 1.1% After Dividend Announcement

Shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) rose 1.1% on Monday after the company announced a dividend. The company traded as high as $169.20 and last traded at $167.80. Approximately 1,238,473 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 6,110,157 shares. The stock had previously closed at $166.01.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Monday, January 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Melius Research raised their price objective on General Electric from $194.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on General Electric from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of General Electric from $223.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. 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. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of General Electric from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.93.

General Electric Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $179.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.17. 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’s 50-day moving average is $179.47 and its 200-day moving average is $172.52.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last issued its earnings results 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 analysts’ expectations of $9.02 billion. General Electric had a return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 11.48%. General Electric’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.82 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that General Electric will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Electric news, SVP Riccardo Procacci sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.13, for a total value of $1,267,910.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,407,036.57. This trade represents a 34.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Russell Stokes sold 15,550 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 148,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GE. Tsfg LLC raised its position in shares of General Electric by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 485 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $92,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of General Electric by 2.6% during the third quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 2,267 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $428,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. increased its holdings in General Electric by 1.0% in the third quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. now owns 6,299 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,188,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Allegheny Financial Group LTD lifted its stake in General Electric by 1.4% in the second quarter. Allegheny Financial Group LTD now owns 4,489 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $714,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Finally, Meridian Management Co. boosted its holdings in General Electric by 1.2% during the third quarter. Meridian Management Co. now owns 5,153 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $972,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

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.