General Electric (NYSE:GE) Shares Up 1.6% on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report) shot up 1.6% during trading on Friday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $191.00 to $201.00. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. General Electric traded as high as $167.94 and last traded at $167.94. 1,561,448 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 7,556,483 shares. The stock had previously closed at $165.26.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on GE. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted 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. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of General Electric from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of General Electric from $120.43 to $186.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of General Electric from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of General Electric from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $175.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $176.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Russell Stokes sold 45,309 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.82, for a total value of $7,377,211.38. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 112,958 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,391,821.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.66% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Electric

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of General Electric during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Halpern Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of General Electric by 968.4% during the 4th quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. now owns 203 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd purchased a new position in shares of General Electric during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Electric during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, CGC Financial Services LLC lifted its position in shares of General Electric by 90.2% during the 4th quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 232 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.77% of the company's stock.

General Electric Stock Up 1.3 %

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $162.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $143.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company has a market cap of $183.16 billion, a PE ratio of 55.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.25.

General Electric (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.25 billion. General Electric had a return on equity of 12.54% and a net margin of 5.05%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.27 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that General Electric will post 3.98 earnings per share for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th were paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 12th. 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 0.67%. General Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.72%.

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.