Boeing (NYSE:BA) Shares Up 6.8% Following Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Shares of The Boeing Company (NYSE:BA - Get Free Report) traded up 6.8% during trading on Wednesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The company traded as high as $176.58 and last traded at $173.52. 8,438,943 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 7% from the average session volume of 9,075,764 shares. The stock had previously closed at $162.52.

The aircraft producer reported ($0.49) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.39) by $0.90. The firm had revenue of $19.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $19.57 billion.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BA has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. TD Securities restated a "buy" rating and issued a $180.00 price target on shares of Boeing in a research note on Thursday. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Boeing from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "underweight" rating and set a $140.00 price objective (up previously from $111.00) on shares of Boeing in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group raised their price objective on Boeing from $190.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Melius Research set a $204.00 price target on Boeing in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $198.45.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Uma M. Amuluru sold 3,159 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $180.69, for a total transaction of $570,799.71. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 19,213 shares in the company, valued at $3,471,596.97. The trade was a 14.12 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.09% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Boeing

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Boeing by 24.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 64,442,717 shares of the aircraft producer's stock valued at $11,406,361,000 after buying an additional 12,641,715 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Boeing by 29.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 15,171,869 shares of the aircraft producer's stock worth $2,677,170,000 after buying an additional 3,452,075 shares during the period. Castlekeep Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Boeing during the 4th quarter worth about $568,000. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Boeing in the 4th quarter worth approximately $526,889,000. Finally, Zimmer Partners LP purchased a new position in Boeing during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $393,736,000. 64.82% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Boeing Price Performance

The company's fifty day moving average is $164.87 and its 200-day moving average is $164.69. The company has a market capitalization of $133.46 billion, a PE ratio of -9.71 and a beta of 1.24.

Boeing Company Profile

The Boeing Company, together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, sells, services, and supports commercial jetliners, military aircraft, satellites, missile defense, human space flight and launch systems, and services worldwide. The company operates through Commercial Airplanes; Defense, Space & Security; and Global Services segments.