General Electric (NYSE:GE) Shares Down 0.9% – Here’s What Happened

General Electric (NYSE:GE)’s share price was down 0.9% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $163.53 and last traded at $164.26. Approximately 948,561 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 6,114,540 shares. The stock had previously closed at $165.79.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on GE shares. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on General Electric from $201.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on General Electric from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Bank of America upped their price target on General Electric from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on General Electric from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on General Electric from $223.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, General Electric presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.93.

General Electric Price Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $179.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $172.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $179.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.87, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.13.

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

General Electric Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other General Electric news, SVP Riccardo Procacci sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.13, for a total transaction of $1,267,910.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,407,036.57. This trade represents a 34.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Russell Stokes sold 15,550 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were 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 directly owns 148,857 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,539,714.53. This represents a 9.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.66% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of General Electric by 117.7% during the third quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 270 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in shares of General Electric by 10.5% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 603,988 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $96,016,000 after purchasing an additional 57,372 shares in the last quarter. Marietta Investment Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Electric during the second quarter valued at about $1,569,000. State Street Corp grew its position in shares of General Electric by 2.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 43,322,827 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $8,181,801,000 after purchasing an additional 898,296 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Soltis Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of General Electric by 269.8% during the third quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 28,201 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $5,318,000 after purchasing an additional 20,575 shares in 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.