General Electric (NYSE:GE) Shares Down 2.5%

General Electric (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report) shares dropped 2.5% on Friday . The company traded as low as $174.33 and last traded at $175.53. Approximately 9,674,578 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 30% from the average daily volume of 7,425,167 shares. The stock had previously closed at $180.12.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on GE shares. Barclays upped their target price on General Electric from $153.00 to $181.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 29th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on General Electric from $180.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on General Electric from $177.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Oppenheimer restated a "market perform" rating on shares of General Electric in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, TheStreet upgraded shares of General Electric from a "c+" rating to a "b+" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Electric presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $150.54.

General Electric Stock Down 2.5 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $191.90 billion, a PE ratio of 20.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $152.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $129.69.

General Electric (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. General Electric had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 13.95%. The company had revenue of $19.42 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.27 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.24 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that General Electric will post 4.57 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at General Electric

In other General Electric news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the senior vice president now owns 56,284 shares in the company, valued at $8,153,863.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of General Electric 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 owns 56,284 shares in the company, valued at $8,153,863.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,339 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,552,351.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.66% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Electric

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. grew its holdings in General Electric by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 4,316 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $550,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its stake in General Electric by 1.2% in the fourth 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. Forte Capital LLC ADV increased its holdings in General Electric by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Forte Capital LLC ADV now owns 4,067 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $519,000 after buying an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. increased its holdings in General Electric by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Atlas Brown Inc. now owns 8,322 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,062,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Analysts LLC raised its stake 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 buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. 74.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About General Electric

General Electric Company operates as a high-tech industrial company in Europe, China, Asia, the Americas, the Middle East, and Africa. It offers gas and steam turbines, full balance of plant, upgrade, and service solutions, as well as data-leveraging software for power generation, industrial, government, and other customers.