General Electric (NYSE:GE) Trading Up 1.1%

General Electric (NYSE:GE) shares rose 1.1% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $162.17 and last traded at $161.26. Approximately 1,778,520 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 7,086,592 shares. The stock had previously closed at $159.56.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GE has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of General Electric from $148.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of General Electric in a research note on Monday, April 29th. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of General Electric from $165.00 to $192.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of General Electric from $201.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of General Electric from $195.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $181.93.

General Electric Trading Up 1.4 %

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 firm has a market cap of $173.80 billion, a PE ratio of 52.17, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.21. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $162.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $154.65.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.27 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that General Electric will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 11th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 11th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.71%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.72%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Russell Stokes sold 45,309 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.82, for a total value of $7,377,211.38. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 112,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,391,821.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.66% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Electric

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in General Electric by 2,818.1% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,749,560 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,237,930,000 after purchasing an additional 12,312,648 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in General Electric in the 4th quarter worth $1,193,159,000. Capital International Investors raised its holdings in General Electric by 9.9% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 59,100,643 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $10,373,936,000 after purchasing an additional 5,309,543 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in General Electric by 221.6% in the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 7,121,741 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,250,079,000 after purchasing an additional 4,907,530 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC bought a new position in General Electric in the 4th quarter worth $520,488,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

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.