General Electric (NYSE:GE) Shares Up 0% Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report) shot up 0% during trading on Tuesday 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 $166.26 and last traded at $164.50. 1,619,532 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 7,999,594 shares. The stock had previously closed at $164.49.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on GE. TD Cowen upgraded General Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $175.00 to $180.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of General Electric in a research report on Monday. They issued a "hold" rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of General Electric from $210.00 to $190.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Vertical Research initiated coverage on General Electric in a report on Thursday, April 4th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $160.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, TheStreet upgraded General Electric from a "c+" rating to a "b+" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $172.29.

Insider Activity at General Electric

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. In other news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 13,601 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total transaction of $1,843,615.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 48,339 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,552,351.45. 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 22,055 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 56,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,153,863.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.66% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GE. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of General Electric by 29.3% during the fourth quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 28,311 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $3,613,000 after buying an additional 6,419 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in shares of 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 boosted its position 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 valued at $12,087,000 after purchasing an additional 10,722 shares in the last quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC grew its stake in General Electric by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 269,783 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $34,432,000 after purchasing an additional 22,998 shares during the period. Finally, Qsemble Capital Management LP bought a new stake in General Electric in the third quarter worth approximately $1,846,000. 74.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

General Electric Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $177.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $161.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $137.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

General Electric (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.25 billion. General Electric had a net margin of 5.05% and a return on equity of 12.54%. General Electric's revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.27 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that General Electric will post 3.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 12th. This is a boost from General Electric's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. General Electric's dividend payout ratio is 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.