General Electric (NYSE:GE) Stock Price Up 0.5%

General Electric (NYSE:GE) shares were up 0.5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $166.46 and last traded at $165.08. Approximately 976,700 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 6,719,052 shares. The stock had previously closed at $164.21.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on GE. UBS Group raised their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of General Electric from $148.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 13th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of General Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on General Electric from $192.00 to $205.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on General Electric from $195.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $190.38.

General Electric Trading Down 1.5 %

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $165.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $163.10. The company has a market cap of $179.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $9.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.44 billion. General Electric had a net margin of 7.66% and a return on equity of 16.07%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.68 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that General Electric will post 4.2 EPS for the current year.

General Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 11th were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 11th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. General Electric’s payout ratio is 36.72%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Electric

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in General Electric by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 88,444,222 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $11,288,136,000 after acquiring an additional 550,996 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of General Electric by 9.9% during the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 59,100,643 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $10,373,936,000 after purchasing an additional 5,309,543 shares in the last quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC purchased a new position in General Electric during the second quarter worth about $2,613,332,000. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in General Electric by 2,818.1% during the first 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in General Electric in the 4th quarter worth about $1,193,159,000. 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.