General Electric (NYSE:GE) Shares Up 1.5% After Analyst Upgrade

General Electric (NYSE:GE)’s share price was up 1.5% during trading on Tuesday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $201.00 to $209.00. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. General Electric traded as high as $162.18 and last traded at $161.41. Approximately 815,007 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 89% from the average daily volume of 7,273,167 shares. The stock had previously closed at $158.97.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on GE. TD Cowen raised shares of General Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $175.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of General Electric in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of General Electric from $190.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Barclays cut their price objective on General Electric from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com began coverage on General Electric in a research report on Monday, April 29th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $181.93.

Insider Transactions at General Electric

In other news, SVP Russell Stokes sold 45,309 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.82, for a total transaction of $7,377,211.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 112,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,391,821.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Electric

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Halpern Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of General Electric by 968.4% during the fourth quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. now owns 203 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the period. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Electric during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. CGC Financial Services LLC raised its stake in shares of General Electric by 90.2% in the 4th quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 232 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Capital Analysts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Electric by 55.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 243 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. Finally, Bfsg LLC bought a new position in General Electric during the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. Institutional investors own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

General Electric Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $162.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $151.59. The firm has a market cap of $176.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.92, a PEG ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.17. General Electric had a net margin of 5.05% and a return on equity of 12.54%. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.25 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.27 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that General Electric will post 4 EPS for the current year.

General Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 11th will be given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 11th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.72%.

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.