General Electric (NYSE:GE) Trading Up 0.7% – Should You Buy?

General Electric (NYSE:GE)’s share price was up 0.7% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $182.60 and last traded at $181.88. Approximately 584,266 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 90% from the average daily volume of 6,148,183 shares. The stock had previously closed at $180.60.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GE has been the subject of several analyst reports. 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of General Electric from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of General Electric from $198.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Melius Research raised their price target on shares of General Electric from $194.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of General Electric from $201.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $200.93.

General Electric Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $183.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $171.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $197.15 billion, a PE ratio of 31.96, a PEG ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) 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 the consensus estimate of $9.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.82 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that General Electric will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current year.

General Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 26th were paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.68%.

Insider Activity at General Electric

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

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp raised its stake in General Electric by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 43,322,827 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $8,181,801,000 after purchasing an additional 898,296 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in General Electric by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 22,587,961 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,244,676,000 after buying an additional 156,272 shares in the last quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Electric during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,613,332,000. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings 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 worth $1,336,257,000 after buying an additional 459,201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of General Electric by 91.8% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 7,771,759 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,465,598,000 after acquiring an additional 3,719,894 shares during the last quarter. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.