General Electric (NYSE:GE) Trading 1.5% Higher – Here’s What Happened

General Electric (NYSE:GE)’s share price shot up 1.5% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $171.49 and last traded at $171.49. 2,235,717 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 64% from the average session volume of 6,128,362 shares. The stock had previously closed at $169.02.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on GE shares. Melius Research increased their price target on shares of General Electric from $194.00 to $202.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of General Electric from $198.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of General Electric from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on General Electric from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on General Electric from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.93.

General Electric Stock Up 1.5 %

The stock has a market cap of $185.60 billion, a PE ratio of 30.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.17. 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 fifty day moving average of $177.10 and a 200 day moving average of $172.70.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $9.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.82 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that General Electric will post 4.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. General Electric’s payout ratio is currently 19.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Electric

In other General Electric news, SVP Riccardo Procacci sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Russell Stokes sold 15,550 shares of General Electric stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.29, for a total value of $2,772,409.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 148,857 shares in the company, valued at $26,539,714.53. This represents a 9.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.66% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of General Electric

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp raised its stake 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 buying an additional 898,296 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in General Electric by 0.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 22,587,961 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $4,244,676,000 after acquiring an additional 156,272 shares during the last quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Electric in the second quarter valued at about $2,613,332,000. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in shares of General Electric by 5.8% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,405,731 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,336,257,000 after purchasing an additional 459,201 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of General Electric by 91.8% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 7,771,759 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,465,598,000 after purchasing an additional 3,719,894 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.