General Electric (NYSE:GE) Shares Up 0.4% – Here’s What Happened

General Electric (NYSE:GE) shares were up 0.4% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $179.94 and last traded at $179.50. Approximately 609,761 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 90% from the average daily volume of 6,168,956 shares. The stock had previously closed at $178.70.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of General Electric from $223.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays upped their target price on shares of General Electric from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Melius Research raised their price target on shares of General Electric from $194.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on General Electric from $201.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on General Electric from $198.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, General Electric currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.93.

General Electric Stock Performance

The business’s 50-day moving average price is $183.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $171.01. The stock has a market cap of $195.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.19. 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 issued its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $9.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.82 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that General Electric will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 26th were given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.62%. General Electric’s payout ratio is currently 19.68%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Russell Stokes sold 15,550 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.29, for a total transaction of $2,772,409.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 148,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,539,714.53. This trade represents a 9.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Riccardo Procacci sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,407,036.57. The trade was a 34.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Electric

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in GE. Studio Investment Management LLC raised its stake in General Electric by 97.5% during the second quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 158 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp purchased a new stake in shares of General Electric during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. bought a new position in shares of General Electric in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in General Electric in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in General Electric during the third quarter worth approximately $28,000. 74.77% of the stock is 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.