General Electric (NYSE:GE) Short Interest Up 11.1% in December

General Electric (NYSE:GE) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 13,180,000 shares, a growth of 11.1% from the December 15th total of 11,860,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 4,770,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.8 days. Currently, 1.2% of the shares of the company are sold short.

General Electric Trading Up 1.7 %

General Electric stock traded up $3.09 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $182.83. The company had a trading volume of 5,887,078 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,238,171. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $174.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $174.16. The firm has a market cap of $197.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.19. General Electric has a 12-month low of $101.16 and a 12-month high of $194.80.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $9.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.02 billion. General Electric had a return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 11.48%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.82 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that General Electric will post 4.23 earnings per share for the current year.

General Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.61%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GE has been the subject of several research reports. Sanford C. Bernstein increased 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. Melius Research raised their target price on General Electric from $194.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Northcoast Research initiated coverage on General Electric in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on General Electric from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their target price on General Electric from $235.00 to $228.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.47.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Electric

In other General Electric news, SVP Russell Stokes sold 15,550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 148,857 shares in the company, valued at $26,539,714.53. This represents a 9.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Riccardo Procacci sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were 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 owns 13,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,407,036.57. This trade represents a 34.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Electric

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp boosted 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. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of General Electric by 0.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 22,587,961 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,244,676,000 after purchasing an additional 156,272 shares in the last quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Electric during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,613,332,000. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of General Electric by 5.8% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,405,731 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,336,257,000 after purchasing an additional 459,201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of General Electric by 91.8% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 7,771,759 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,465,598,000 after purchasing an additional 3,719,894 shares in the last quarter. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.