General Electric (NYSE:GE) Stock Price Down 0.3%

General Electric (NYSE:GE)’s stock price was down 0.3% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $160.31 and last traded at $160.72. Approximately 1,737,391 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 8,059,399 shares. The stock had previously closed at $161.26.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have weighed in on GE. Barclays decreased their price target on General Electric from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on General Electric from $190.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on General Electric from $200.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Argus upped their price target on General Electric from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, TheStreet raised General Electric from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Electric has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $170.00.

General Electric Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $177.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.29. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $160.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $135.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.25 billion. General Electric had a return on equity of 12.54% and a net margin of 5.05%. General Electric’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.27 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that General Electric will post 3.95 EPS for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th were given a $0.28 dividend. This is an increase from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 12th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. General Electric’s payout ratio is presently 36.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Electric

In other news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of General Electric stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.87, for a total value of $3,195,107.85. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 56,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,153,863.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of General Electric stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.87, for a total transaction of $3,195,107.85. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 56,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,153,863.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 13,601 shares of General Electric stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total value of $1,843,615.55. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,552,351.45. 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 institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GE. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Electric by 6.9% in the third quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 26,440 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,923,000 after purchasing an additional 1,706 shares in the last quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in General Electric by 25.8% during the third quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,872 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $428,000 after acquiring an additional 794 shares in the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in General Electric by 23.9% during the third quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,344 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $147,000 after acquiring an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC raised its holdings in General Electric by 9.2% during the third quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 3,493 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $386,000 after acquiring an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Blueprint LLC raised its holdings in General Electric by 10.5% during the third quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 2,465 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $273,000 after acquiring an additional 234 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.