General Electric (NYSE:GE) Trading Down 9.1% – Should You Sell?

General Electric (NYSE:GE) fell 9.1% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $176.38 and last traded at $176.50. 6,038,072 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 5% from the average session volume of 6,324,736 shares. The stock had previously closed at $194.23.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on GE. UBS Group raised their price target on General Electric from $201.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 1st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of General Electric from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. StockNews.com cut General Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on General Electric from $190.00 to $210.00 in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Melius Research boosted their price target on shares of General Electric from $194.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $198.53.

General Electric Stock Down 9.0 %

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $179.06 and its 200-day moving average is $167.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market cap of $193.40 billion, a PE ratio of 57.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.18.

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

General Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 26th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. General Electric’s payout ratio is 36.72%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Electric

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Capital International Investors grew its stake in shares of General Electric by 9.9% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 59,100,643 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $10,373,936,000 after buying an additional 5,309,543 shares in the last quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Electric in the second quarter valued at about $2,613,332,000. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of General Electric by 2,818.1% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,749,560 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,237,930,000 after buying an additional 12,312,648 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its stake in shares of General Electric by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,405,731 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,336,257,000 after buying an additional 459,201 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in shares of General Electric by 221.6% during the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 7,121,741 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,250,079,000 after buying an additional 4,907,530 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.