General Electric (NYSE:GE) Shares Down 0.4%

General Electric (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report) traded down 0.4% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $160.06 and last traded at $160.34. 916,246 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 88% from the average session volume of 7,583,295 shares. The stock had previously closed at $161.00.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Argus raised their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of General Electric from $165.00 to $192.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of General Electric from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of General Electric from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, StockNews.com started coverage on shares of General Electric in a research report on Monday, April 29th. They set a "hold" rating on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $174.21.

General Electric Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $176.01 billion, a PE ratio of 52.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.81 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.17. The business's 50 day moving average is $162.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $142.94.

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 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 business had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.27 EPS. General Electric's revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that General Electric will post 3.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 25th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th were paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. This is a positive change from General Electric's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 12th. General Electric's payout ratio is currently 36.72%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GE. Halpern Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of General Electric by 968.4% during the 4th quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. now owns 203 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Electric during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. CGC Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings 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 worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Capital Analysts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Electric by 55.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 243 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bfsg LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Electric during the 4th quarter worth $32,000. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.