General Electric (NYSE:GE) Stock Price Up 1.9%

General Electric (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report) traded up 1.9% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $167.96 and last traded at $167.26. 1,389,945 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 7,864,379 shares. The stock had previously closed at $164.11.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen upgraded shares of General Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $175.00 to $180.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. TheStreet raised shares of General Electric from a "c+" rating to a "b+" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of General Electric from $120.43 to $186.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of General Electric from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of General Electric from $190.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $172.29.

General Electric Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $161.93 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $138.30. The stock has a market capitalization of $183.83 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.84, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.25.

General Electric (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.17. General Electric had a net margin of 5.05% and a return on equity of 12.54%. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.27 earnings per share. General Electric's revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that General Electric will post 3.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is a boost from General Electric's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 12th. General Electric's dividend payout ratio is 36.72%.

Insider Activity

In other 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.66% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Electric

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GE. Walker Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of General Electric by 1.7% in the first quarter. Walker Asset Management LLC now owns 4,111 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $722,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in General Electric by 2.6% during the 1st quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,821 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $495,000 after buying an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. grew its position in shares of General Electric by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 4,316 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $550,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC boosted its stake in General Electric by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 6,377 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $814,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schnieders Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in General Electric by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC now owns 6,817 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,197,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. 74.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.

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