General Electric (NYSE:GE) Shares Up 0.2% – Should You Buy?

Shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) shot up 0.2% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $166.63 and last traded at $166.09. 1,589,367 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 6,112,062 shares. The stock had previously closed at $165.80.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on GE shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of General Electric from $212.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of General Electric from $223.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target 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. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of General Electric from $198.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of General Electric from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $201.93.

General Electric Trading Down 0.9 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $177.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.86, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.17. The business has a 50 day moving average of $179.47 and a 200-day moving average of $172.52.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.02. The business 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.82 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that General Electric will post 4.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. 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 0.68%. General Electric’s payout ratio is presently 19.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Electric

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GE. Tsfg LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Electric by 12.8% in the third quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 485 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $92,000 after acquiring an additional 55 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of General Electric by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 2,267 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $428,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of General Electric by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mitchell Mcleod Pugh & Williams Inc. now owns 6,299 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,188,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Allegheny Financial Group LTD grew its position in General Electric by 1.4% during the second quarter. Allegheny Financial Group LTD now owns 4,489 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $714,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Finally, Meridian Management Co. grew its position 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 buying an additional 61 shares during the period. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.