General Electric (NYSE:GE) Shares Up 0.4% – Still a Buy?

General Electric (NYSE:GE) shares shot up 0.4% on Friday . The company traded as high as $179.94 and last traded at $179.50. 609,761 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 90% from the average session volume of 6,168,956 shares. The stock had previously closed at $178.70.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. UBS Group lifted their price target on General Electric from $223.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. StockNews.com downgraded General Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on General Electric from $212.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Barclays upped their target price on shares of General Electric from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of General Electric from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $200.93.

General Electric Stock Up 0.9 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $195.19 billion, a PE ratio of 31.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.19. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $183.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $171.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. General Electric had a return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 11.48%. The company had revenue of $9.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.82 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that General Electric will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

General Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 26th were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 26th. General Electric’s payout ratio is presently 19.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 148,857 shares in the company, valued at $26,539,714.53. This represents a 9.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Riccardo Procacci sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,289 shares in the company, valued at $2,407,036.57. The trade was a 34.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.66% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of General Electric by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 43,322,827 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $8,181,801,000 after acquiring an additional 898,296 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of General Electric by 0.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 22,587,961 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,244,676,000 after purchasing an additional 156,272 shares in the last quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Electric during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,613,332,000. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of General Electric by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,405,731 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,336,257,000 after purchasing an additional 459,201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of General Electric by 91.8% in the 3rd 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 last quarter. 74.77% of the stock is 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.