Wall Street Zen Upgrades GE Aerospace (NYSE:GE) to "Buy"

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of GE Aerospace (NYSE:GE - Free Report) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Friday morning.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on GE Aerospace from $212.00 to $222.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of GE Aerospace from $300.00 to $321.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on GE Aerospace from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday. Northcoast Research cut shares of GE Aerospace from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, May 19th. Finally, Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and issued a $296.00 price target (up from $227.00) on shares of GE Aerospace in a report on Monday, July 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $240.33.

GE Aerospace Stock Performance

GE Aerospace stock traded up $3.21 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $263.49. 8,605,410 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,648,390. GE Aerospace has a 12 month low of $150.20 and a 12 month high of $272.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $244.37 and a 200 day moving average of $211.75. The firm has a market cap of $280.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.75, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 1.37.

GE Aerospace (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 17th. The company reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.43 by $0.23. GE Aerospace had a return on equity of 31.32% and a net margin of 18.64%. The business had revenue of $10.15 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.49 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.20 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 21.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that GE Aerospace will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current year.

GE Aerospace Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, July 7th will be given a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.55%. GE Aerospace's dividend payout ratio is 22.40%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Robert M. Giglietti sold 4,104 shares of GE Aerospace stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.73, for a total value of $807,379.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 11,540 shares in the company, valued at $2,270,264.20. This trade represents a 26.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Mohamed Ali sold 1,602 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $200.67, for a total transaction of $321,473.34. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 8,805 shares in the company, valued at $1,766,899.35. The trade was a 15.39% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.21% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of GE. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in GE Aerospace by 0.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 90,507,442 shares of the company's stock worth $18,115,065,000 after acquiring an additional 692,124 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its holdings in GE Aerospace by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 66,823,968 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,145,570,000 after buying an additional 965,012 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in GE Aerospace by 6.3% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 25,131,285 shares of the company's stock worth $5,030,028,000 after buying an additional 1,492,486 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in GE Aerospace by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 23,117,418 shares of the company's stock worth $3,846,587,000 after acquiring an additional 529,457 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in GE Aerospace during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,375,439,000. 74.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

GE Aerospace Company Profile

GE Aerospace (also known as General Electric) is a company that specializes in providing aerospace products and services. It operates through two reportable segments: Commercial Engines and Services and Defense and Propulsion Technologies. It offers jet and turboprop engines, as well as integrated systems for commercial, military, business, and general aviation aircraft.