General Electric (NYSE:GE) Trading 3.2% Higher

General Electric (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report) shot up 3.2% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $150.54 and last traded at $150.28. 3,933,172 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 39% from the average session volume of 6,407,829 shares. The stock had previously closed at $145.62.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on GE. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of General Electric from $200.00 to $165.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of General Electric from $180.00 to $148.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. TheStreet raised shares of General Electric from a "c+" rating to a "b+" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of General Electric in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price target on shares of General Electric from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, December 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $148.79.

General Electric Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $161.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 1.29. The company's 50-day moving average price is $154.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $131.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

General Electric (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $19.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.27 billion. General Electric had a net margin of 13.95% and a return on equity of 10.88%. General Electric's revenue was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.24 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that General Electric will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at General Electric

In other news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.87, for a total transaction of $3,195,107.85. Following the completion of the sale, 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 accessible through this link. In other General Electric news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of General Electric stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.87, for a total transaction of $3,195,107.85. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 56,284 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,153,863.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 13,601 shares of General Electric stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was 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 owns 48,339 shares in the company, valued at $6,552,351.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.66% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in General Electric by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 88,444,222 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $11,288,136,000 after buying an additional 550,996 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of General Electric by 3.5% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 50,207,805 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $5,515,327,000 after acquiring an additional 1,717,793 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of General Electric by 122,242.2% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,438,063 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $878,644,000 after acquiring an additional 13,427,079 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in General Electric by 4.0% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in General Electric in the fourth quarter worth $1,193,159,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.77% of the company's stock.

About General Electric

General Electric Company operates as a high-tech industrial company in Europe, China, Asia, the Americas, the Middle East, and Africa. It offers gas and steam turbines, full balance of plant, upgrade, and service solutions, as well as data-leveraging software for power generation, industrial, government, and other customers.