General Electric (NYSE:GE) Trading 1.5% Higher

General Electric (NYSE:GE) shares traded up 1.5% on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $164.49 and last traded at $163.94. 951,009 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 7,258,286 shares. The stock had previously closed at $161.45.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on GE shares. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of General Electric from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. UBS Group boosted their target price on General Electric from $201.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on General Electric from $190.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Argus increased their price objective on shares of General Electric from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of General Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $175.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $181.93.

General Electric Stock Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average of $162.51 and a 200 day moving average of $152.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The company has a market cap of $179.35 billion, a PE ratio of 53.75, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.22.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.25 billion. General Electric had a net margin of 5.05% and a return on equity of 12.54%. The firm’s revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.27 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that General Electric will post 4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 11th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 11th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.72%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Russell Stokes sold 45,309 shares of General Electric stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.82, for a total transaction of $7,377,211.38. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 112,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,391,821.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Marcum Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of General Electric by 8.4% in the second quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 2,922 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $465,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares during the period. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its stake in General Electric by 7.8% in the 2nd quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 4,140 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $658,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV grew its holdings in General Electric by 15.0% during the 2nd quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 3,822 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $608,000 after buying an additional 499 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in General Electric by 25.4% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 16,999 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,702,000 after buying an additional 3,442 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trust Co of the South raised its position in shares of General Electric by 1.2% during the second quarter. Trust Co of the South now owns 5,909 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $939,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.