General Electric (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report) shares hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $165.00 to $192.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. General Electric traded as high as $166.00 and last traded at $165.89, with a volume of 2300001 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $162.35.
A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Barclays decreased their price objective on General Electric from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. TheStreet upgraded General Electric from a "c+" rating to a "b+" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on General Electric from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of General Electric in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of General Electric from $190.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, General Electric presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $172.29.
Check Out Our Latest Analysis on GE
Insider Activity
In related news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.87, for a total value of $3,195,107.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 56,284 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,153,863.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other General Electric news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.87, for a total value of $3,195,107.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 56,284 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,153,863.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 13,601 shares of General Electric stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total value of $1,843,615.55. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,339 shares in the company, valued at $6,552,351.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.66% of the company's stock.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Electric
A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GE. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in General Electric by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 88,444,222 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $11,288,136,000 after acquiring an additional 550,996 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of General Electric by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,588,433 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,170,551,000 after purchasing an additional 410,061 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of General Electric in the 4th quarter valued at $1,193,159,000. Morgan Stanley increased its position in shares of General Electric by 5.1% during the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 8,955,511 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $990,032,000 after buying an additional 434,736 shares during the period. Finally, DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main increased its position in shares of General Electric by 6.9% during the fourth quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main now owns 6,655,053 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $849,385,000 after buying an additional 426,794 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.77% of the company's stock.
General Electric Price Performance
The firm has a market cap of $180.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The business's 50 day moving average is $160.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $136.43.
General Electric (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.17. General Electric had a return on equity of 12.54% and a net margin of 5.05%. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.25 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.27 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that General Electric will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current year.
General Electric Increases Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 25th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 12th. This is a positive change from General Electric's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. General Electric's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.72%.
About General Electric
(
Get Free Report)
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.
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