General Electric (NYSE:GE) Stock Price Up 3% – Should You Buy?

General Electric (NYSE:GE) shares rose 3% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $181.76 and last traded at $180.56. Approximately 1,917,503 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 69% from the average daily volume of 6,285,856 shares. The stock had previously closed at $175.26.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on GE shares. Barclays increased their target price on General Electric from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of General Electric from $223.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America raised their target price on General Electric from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target 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, Melius Research lifted their price objective on General Electric from $194.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $200.93.

General Electric Trading Up 3.2 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $180.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $169.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $195.68 billion, a PE ratio of 31.78, a PEG ratio of 1.70 and a beta of 1.19.

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. 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.82 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that General Electric will post 4.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 26th were issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 26th. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.68%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Electric

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norden Group LLC purchased a new stake in General Electric during the first quarter valued at $234,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its stake in shares of General Electric by 186.6% in the 1st quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 6,082 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,068,000 after purchasing an additional 3,960 shares during the last quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors purchased a new position in shares of General Electric in the 1st quarter worth approximately $254,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in General Electric during the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Csenge Advisory Group lifted its position in General Electric by 28.7% in the first quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 8,165 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,433,000 after buying an additional 1,821 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.