Short Interest in General Electric (NYSE:GE) Declines By 7.3%

General Electric (NYSE:GE) was the target of a large drop in short interest during the month of November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 11,240,000 shares, a drop of 7.3% from the November 15th total of 12,130,000 shares. Approximately 1.0% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 4,630,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.4 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GE has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on General Electric from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of General Electric from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Melius Research raised their target price on shares of General Electric from $194.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of General Electric from $223.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on General Electric from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, General Electric presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.93.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Russell Stokes sold 15,550 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 148,857 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,539,714.53. The trade was a 9.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Riccardo Procacci sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 13,289 shares in the company, valued at $2,407,036.57. This trade represents a 34.50 % 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.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Electric

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Studio Investment Management LLC increased its position in General Electric by 97.5% during the 2nd quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 158 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Toth Financial Advisory Corp acquired a new position in shares of General Electric in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. bought a new position in General Electric during the third quarter worth about $25,000. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in General Electric in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in General Electric in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Institutional investors own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

General Electric Stock Up 0.0 %

GE opened at $165.83 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $179.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $172.52. General Electric has a 1-year low of $98.48 and a 1-year high of $194.80. The stock has a market cap of $179.47 billion, a PE ratio of 29.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $9.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 prior year, the firm earned $0.82 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that General Electric will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current year.

General Electric Announces Dividend

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

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.