General Electric (NYSE:GE) Shares Down 0.8% – Time to Sell?

General Electric (NYSE:GE)’s stock price dropped 0.8% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $175.70 and last traded at $176.16. Approximately 454,734 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 93% from the average daily volume of 6,202,610 shares. The stock had previously closed at $177.52.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GE has been the subject of several analyst reports. Bank of America raised their price objective on General Electric from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on General Electric from $212.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Melius Research boosted their price objective on General Electric from $194.00 to $202.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on General Electric from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on General Electric from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $200.93.

General Electric Stock Performance

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $182.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $170.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $192.63 billion, a PE ratio of 31.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $9.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.02 billion. General Electric had a return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 11.48%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.82 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that General Electric will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current year.

General Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 26th were paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.63%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 26th. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Electric

In related news, SVP Russell Stokes sold 15,550 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.29, for a total transaction of $2,772,409.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 148,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,539,714.53. This trade represents a 9.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Riccardo Procacci sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.13, for a total value of $1,267,910.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,407,036.57. This represents a 34.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.66% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Electric

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GE. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of General Electric by 117.7% during the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 270 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of General Electric by 10.5% during the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 603,988 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $96,016,000 after acquiring an additional 57,372 shares in the last quarter. Marietta Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Electric during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,569,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of General Electric by 25.4% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 16,999 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,702,000 after acquiring an additional 3,442 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Senator Investment Group LP purchased a new stake in shares of General Electric during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,973,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

About General Electric

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.