General Electric (NYSE:GE) Trading 1.6% Higher After Analyst Upgrade

General Electric (NYSE:GE)’s stock price traded up 1.6% on Friday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $191.00 to $201.00. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. General Electric traded as high as $167.94 and last traded at $167.94. 1,561,448 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 79% from the average session volume of 7,556,483 shares. The stock had previously closed at $165.26.

A number of other analysts have also commented on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of General Electric from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. TD Cowen raised shares of General Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $175.00 to $180.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Argus boosted their price target on shares of General Electric from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 24th. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of General Electric in a report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on shares of General Electric from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $176.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other General Electric news, SVP Russell Stokes sold 45,309 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 112,958 shares in the company, valued at $18,391,821.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.66% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of General Electric

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in General Electric by 5.1% in the third quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 212,424 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $23,485,000 after acquiring an additional 10,380 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new position in General Electric in the third quarter worth $351,000. Empower Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in General Electric by 8.5% in the third quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,095 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $342,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. Lincoln National Corp raised its holdings in General Electric by 2.8% in the third quarter. Lincoln National Corp now owns 14,860 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,643,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wilbanks Smith & Thomas Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in General Electric by 2.7% in the third quarter. Wilbanks Smith & Thomas Asset Management LLC now owns 9,866 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,091,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

General Electric Stock Performance

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $162.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $143.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The firm has a market cap of $183.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.25.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 12.54% and a net margin of 5.05%. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.25 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.27 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that General Electric will post 3.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 25th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th were issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. This is an increase from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 12th. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.