General Electric (NYSE:GE) Stock Price Up 1%

General Electric (NYSE:GE) shares rose 1% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $164.49 and last traded at $163.00. Approximately 2,577,254 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 56% from the average daily volume of 5,797,346 shares. The stock had previously closed at $161.45.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on GE. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of General Electric from $120.43 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of General Electric from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of General Electric from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, June 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of General Electric from $148.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. Finally, Argus raised their price target on shares of General Electric from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $181.93.

General Electric Price Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average is $162.59 and its 200-day moving average is $152.20. 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 capitalization of $178.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.21.

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

General Electric Dividend Announcement

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 is Thursday, July 11th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is 36.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Russell Stokes sold 45,309 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.82, for a total transaction of $7,377,211.38. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 112,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,391,821.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.66% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Electric

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Moody National Bank Trust Division grew its holdings in shares of General Electric by 3.2% in the second quarter. Moody National Bank Trust Division now owns 12,306 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,956,000 after purchasing an additional 376 shares during the last quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC grew its holdings in General Electric by 8.4% during the 2nd quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 2,922 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $465,000 after acquiring an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV grew its holdings in General Electric by 7.8% during the 2nd quarter. Hudson Valley Investment Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 4,140 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $658,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. 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 worth $608,000 after acquiring an additional 499 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Electric by 25.4% in 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

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.