General Electric (NYSE:GE) Trading Down 0.3% – Should You Sell?

General Electric (NYSE:GE)’s share price dropped 0.3% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $170.13 and last traded at $170.89. Approximately 460,675 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 92% from the average daily volume of 6,105,257 shares. The stock had previously closed at $171.49.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of General Electric from $201.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of General Electric from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Melius Research upped their price objective on shares of General Electric from $194.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on General Electric from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on General Electric from $198.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.93.

General Electric Stock Down 1.2 %

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 firm’s 50-day moving average price is $175.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $172.74. The firm has a market cap of $184.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.17.

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

General Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Russell Stokes sold 15,550 shares of General Electric stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.29, for a total transaction of $2,772,409.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 148,857 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,539,714.53. This trade represents a 9.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Riccardo Procacci sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.13, for a total value of $1,267,910.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,407,036.57. This trade represents a 34.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of General Electric

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