General Electric (NYSE:GE) Shares Up 0.6% – Should You Buy?

General Electric (NYSE:GE) shares shot up 0.6% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $173.68 and last traded at $172.94. 1,184,640 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 61% from the average session volume of 3,034,132 shares. The stock had previously closed at $171.96.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GE has been the topic of several recent research reports. Melius Research lifted their price target on shares of General Electric from $194.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their target price on General Electric from $235.00 to $228.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted 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. Bank of America boosted their target price on General Electric from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Northcoast Research began coverage on shares of General Electric in a report on Tuesday. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, General Electric presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.47.

General Electric Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.13. The company has a market cap of $187.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.19. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $174.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $173.28.

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

General Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. General Electric’s payout ratio is 19.68%.

Insider Transactions at General Electric

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Electric

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of GE. Tsfg LLC grew its position in shares of General Electric by 12.8% during the 3rd quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 485 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $92,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares during the period. Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its position in General Electric by 2.6% during the third quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 2,267 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $428,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. lifted its position 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 valued at $1,188,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Meridian Management Co. grew its holdings in General Electric by 1.2% during 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 during the period. Finally, Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in General Electric by 3.0% in the third quarter. Mayflower Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,115 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $399,000 after buying an additional 62 shares in the last quarter. 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.