General Electric (NYSE:GE) Trading 2.2% Higher After Analyst Upgrade

General Electric (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report) shares were up 2.2% 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. Approximately 2,300,001 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average daily volume of 8,036,834 shares. The stock had previously closed at $162.35.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Citigroup lifted their price objective on General Electric from $120.43 to $186.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of General Electric from $190.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of General Electric from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Oppenheimer restated a "market perform" rating on shares of General Electric in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Argus upped their target price on shares of General Electric from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $172.29.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 value 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 $8,153,863.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 13,601 shares of the company's 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,552,351.45. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 56,284 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,153,863.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.66% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Electric

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GE. Halpern Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of General Electric by 968.4% in the fourth quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. now owns 203 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in General Electric in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. CGC Financial Services LLC raised its holdings in General Electric by 90.2% in the 4th quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 232 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. Capital Analysts LLC grew its holdings in General Electric by 55.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 243 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. Finally, Horrell Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in General Electric during the first quarter valued at about $44,000. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Electric Stock Up 1.3 %

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $160.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $136.43. 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 firm has a market cap of $180.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.29.

General Electric (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.17. General Electric had a net margin of 5.05% and a return on equity of 12.54%. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.27 EPS. General Electric's revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that General Electric will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is an increase from General Electric's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 12th. General Electric's dividend payout ratio is currently 36.72%.

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.