General Electric (NYSE:GE) Shares Up 1%

General Electric (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report) shares shot up 1% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $150.69 and last traded at $149.53. 1,777,194 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 7,921,698 shares. The stock had previously closed at $148.06.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on GE. TheStreet raised shares of General Electric from a "c+" rating to a "b+" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Barclays cut their target price on General Electric from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on General Electric in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. They set a "buy" rating and a $190.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen upgraded General Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $175.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on General Electric in a research report on Sunday. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $160.07.

General Electric Stock Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $159.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $134.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $164.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.00, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.29. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $19.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.27 billion. General Electric had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 13.95%. The company's revenue was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.24 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that General Electric will post 3.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This is an increase from General Electric's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. General Electric's payout ratio is 13.38%.

Insider Activity at General Electric

In other General Electric 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 transaction of $3,195,107.85. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 56,284 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,153,863.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.87, for a total transaction of $3,195,107.85. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 56,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,153,863.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 13,601 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of 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 corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of General Electric

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GE. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in General Electric by 29.3% in the 4th quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 28,311 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $3,613,000 after buying an additional 6,419 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its holdings in General Electric by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 261,187 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $33,335,000 after purchasing an additional 28,985 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Electric by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 109,332 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $12,087,000 after purchasing an additional 10,722 shares during the period. Grandfield & Dodd LLC raised its position in shares of General Electric by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 269,783 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $34,432,000 after buying an additional 22,998 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. lifted its stake in shares of General Electric by 51,152.3% in the third quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. now owns 22,551 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $2,493,000 after buying an additional 22,507 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.77% of the company's stock.

General Electric Company Profile

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.