General Electric (NYSE:GE) Stock Price Down 0.8% – Should You Sell?

Shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) were down 0.8% on Friday . The company traded as low as $170.74 and last traded at $171.58. Approximately 1,371,924 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 67% from the average daily volume of 4,194,340 shares. The stock had previously closed at $172.89.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on GE shares. Northcoast Research started coverage on shares of General Electric in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on shares of General Electric from $235.00 to $228.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Melius Research increased their price objective on General Electric from $194.00 to $202.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Bank of America boosted their target price on General Electric from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on General Electric from $201.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.47.

General Electric Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $174.34 and its 200 day moving average price is $173.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $187.27 billion, a PE ratio of 30.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.19.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $9.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.02 billion. General Electric had a return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 11.48%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.82 EPS. 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. General Electric’s payout ratio is presently 19.68%.

Insider Transactions at General Electric

In other General Electric news, SVP Russell Stokes sold 15,550 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 148,857 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,539,714.53. This represents a 9.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Riccardo Procacci sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.13, for a total transaction of $1,267,910.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,407,036.57. The trade was a 34.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of General Electric by 2.1% in the third 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of General Electric by 0.7% in the 3rd 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 position in shares of General Electric during the 2nd quarter worth $2,613,332,000. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 459,201 shares during 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 buying an additional 3,719,894 shares during the period. 74.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.