General Electric (NYSE:GE) Upgraded to Buy by TD Cowen

TD Cowen upgraded shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat reports. TD Cowen currently has $180.00 price objective on the conglomerate's stock, up from their previous price objective of $175.00.

Several other analysts have also commented on the company. StockNews.com began coverage on General Electric in a report on Friday. They issued a hold rating for the company. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a market perform rating on shares of General Electric in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on General Electric from $210.00 to $190.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on General Electric from $200.00 to $165.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Vertical Research assumed coverage on General Electric in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. They set a buy rating and a $160.00 target price on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $157.67.

General Electric Stock Performance

General Electric stock traded down $2.03 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $154.49. 8,807,350 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,740,026. The firm has a market capitalization of $168.90 billion, a PE ratio of 18.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.29. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $156.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $131.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. General Electric has a one year low of $93.47 and a one year high of $180.36.

General Electric (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. General Electric had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 13.95%. The firm had revenue of $19.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.27 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.24 EPS. The company's revenue was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that General Electric will post 4.61 earnings per share for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.72%. This is a positive change from General Electric's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. General Electric's dividend payout ratio is currently 3.82%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 13,601 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $6,552,351.45. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the firm'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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 56,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,153,863.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 13,601 shares of the firm's 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,339 shares in the company, 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.

Institutional Trading of General Electric

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GE. Foster Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of General Electric by 16.8% during the 1st quarter. Foster Group Inc. now owns 2,623 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $460,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares during the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV lifted its position in shares of General Electric by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 3,323 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $583,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Rise Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of General Electric by 206.0% during the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 817 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $143,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares during the last quarter. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. lifted its position in shares of General Electric by 24.9% during the 1st quarter. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. now owns 82,947 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $14,559,000 after purchasing an additional 16,518 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in General Electric by 1.2% in the first quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 11,742 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $2,061,000 after acquiring an additional 144 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.