General Electric (NYSE:GE) Trading Down 0.3%

General Electric (NYSE:GE) fell 0.3% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $167.94 and last traded at $168.42. 992,300 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 7,759,611 shares. The stock had previously closed at $168.86.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup upped their target price on General Electric from $120.43 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. TheStreet raised shares of General Electric from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of General Electric from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of General Electric from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of General Electric in a report on Monday, April 29th. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $172.29.

General Electric Stock Down 0.8 %

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $162.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $139.38. The stock has a market cap of $183.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.92, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.25 billion. General Electric had a net margin of 5.05% and a return on equity of 12.54%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.27 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that General Electric will post 3.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 12th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.67%. This is a boost from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. General Electric’s payout ratio is 36.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of General Electric stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,153,863.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.66% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Electric

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Halpern Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of General Electric by 968.4% during the fourth quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. now owns 203 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Electric in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. CGC Financial Services LLC increased its stake in shares of General Electric by 90.2% in the fourth quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 232 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the period. Capital Analysts LLC raised its position in shares of General Electric by 55.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 243 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bfsg LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Electric in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. 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.