General Electric (NYSE:GE) Trading Down 0.6% - Should You Sell?

General Electric (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded down 0.6% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $167.03 and last traded at $167.03. 424,444 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 93% from the average session volume of 6,074,635 shares. The stock had previously closed at $168.10.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on GE. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of General Electric from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Bank of America boosted their price target on General Electric from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on General Electric from $212.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Citigroup lifted their target price on General Electric from $198.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on shares of General Electric from $201.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Electric currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $201.93.

General Electric Stock Performance

The business's 50-day simple moving average is $175.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $173.00. 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 firm has a market cap of $180.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.17.

General Electric (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.15 earnings per share 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 company 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 firm posted $0.82 EPS. General Electric's quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that General Electric will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. General Electric's payout ratio is presently 19.68%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, SVP Riccardo Procacci sold 7,000 shares of the business'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 completion of the sale, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Russell Stokes sold 15,550 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $26,539,714.53. This represents a 9.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.66% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Electric

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Toth Financial Advisory Corp acquired a new stake in shares of General Electric in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of General Electric in the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Electric during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of General Electric during the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Studio Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Electric by 97.5% in 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 during the period. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.