General Electric (NYSE:GE) Short Interest Update

General Electric (NYSE:GE) saw a significant decline in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 11,360,000 shares, a decline of 10.9% from the March 15th total of 12,750,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 6,880,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.7 days. Currently, 1.0% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Electric

In other news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.87, for a total value of $3,195,107.85. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 56,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,153,863.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.87, for a total value of $3,195,107.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 56,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,153,863.08. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 13,601 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total transaction of $1,843,615.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 48,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,552,351.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of General Electric

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in General Electric by 29.3% in the fourth quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 28,311 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,613,000 after buying an additional 6,419 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in General Electric by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 261,187 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $33,335,000 after buying an additional 28,985 shares in the last quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC boosted its position in General Electric by 10.9% in the third quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 109,332 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $12,087,000 after buying an additional 10,722 shares in the last quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. boosted its position in General Electric by 51,152.3% in the third quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. now owns 22,551 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,493,000 after buying an additional 22,507 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qsemble Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of General Electric during the third quarter valued at $1,846,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of General Electric in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of General Electric from $195.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of General Electric from $200.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of General Electric from $210.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of General Electric in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $190.00 price objective for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $160.07.

General Electric Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of GE opened at $156.76 on Wednesday. General Electric has a 12 month low of $76.38 and a 12 month high of $158.68. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $158.53 and its 200-day moving average is $133.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $171.38 billion, a PE ratio of 18.73, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.18, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $19.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.27 billion. General Electric had a net margin of 13.95% and a return on equity of 10.88%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.24 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that General Electric will post 3.78 EPS for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 25th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is a positive change from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.71%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.38%.

About General Electric

General Electric Company operates as a high-tech industrial company in Europe, China, Asia, the Americas, the Middle East, and Africa. It offers gas and steam turbines, full balance of plant, upgrade, and service solutions, as well as data-leveraging software for power generation, industrial, government, and other customers.