General Electric (NYSE:GE) Research Coverage Started at The Goldman Sachs Group

Equities researchers at The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report) in a report issued on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage set a "buy" rating and a $190.00 price target on the conglomerate's stock. The Goldman Sachs Group's price target would suggest a potential upside of 22.99% from the stock's previous close.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on GE. TheStreet upgraded shares of General Electric from a "c+" rating to a "b+" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of General Electric in a research note on Friday. They set a "hold" rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of General Electric from $180.00 to $148.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Vertical Research initiated coverage on shares of General Electric in a report on Thursday, April 4th. They set a "buy" rating and a $160.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of General Electric from $180.00 to $195.00 in a report on Monday, March 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $157.67.

General Electric Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of General Electric stock traded down $2.03 on Tuesday, hitting $154.49. The company had a trading volume of 8,807,350 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,740,026. General Electric has a twelve month low of $93.47 and a twelve month high of $180.36. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $156.12 and a 200-day moving average of $131.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $168.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

General Electric (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. General Electric had a net margin of 13.95% and a return on equity of 10.88%. The firm had revenue of $19.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.24 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that General Electric will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other General Electric news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 56,284 shares in the company, valued at $8,153,863.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 13,601 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 48,339 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,552,351.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.66% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in General Electric by 122,242.2% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,438,063 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $878,644,000 after acquiring an additional 13,427,079 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in General Electric during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,193,159,000. State Street Corp raised its holdings in General Electric by 17.3% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 48,490,012 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $4,639,533,000 after purchasing an additional 7,157,356 shares in the last quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in General Electric during the fourth quarter worth approximately $520,488,000. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. raised its holdings in General Electric by 265.7% during the third quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 3,008,425 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $332,581,000 after purchasing an additional 2,185,793 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.77% of the company's stock.

General Electric Company Profile

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.