General Electric (NYSE:GE) Stock Price Up 1.9% – Here’s What Happened

General Electric (NYSE:GE)’s stock price rose 1.9% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $170.70 and last traded at $170.00. Approximately 966,212 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 6,084,345 shares. The stock had previously closed at $166.79.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on GE. Bank of America raised their target price on General Electric from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on General Electric from $201.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their target price on General Electric from $235.00 to $228.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of General Electric from $223.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Melius Research raised their price objective on shares of General Electric from $194.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.47.

General Electric Stock Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $174.81 and a 200-day moving average price of $173.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $181.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.53, a P/E/G ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.17.

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

General Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. General Electric’s payout ratio is currently 19.68%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Electric

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of General Electric by 117.7% in the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 270 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in General Electric by 10.5% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 603,988 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $96,016,000 after purchasing an additional 57,372 shares during the last quarter. Marietta Investment Partners LLC acquired a new stake in General Electric in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,569,000. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of General Electric by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 43,322,827 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $8,181,801,000 after purchasing an additional 898,296 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Soltis Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of General Electric by 269.8% in the third quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 28,201 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $5,318,000 after acquiring an additional 20,575 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.