General Electric (NYSE:GE) Stock Price Up 1.9% – Still a Buy?

General Electric (NYSE:GE) shares traded up 1.9% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $170.70 and last traded at $170.00. 966,212 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 6,084,345 shares. The stock had previously closed at $166.79.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on GE. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of General Electric from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Melius Research lifted their price target on shares of General Electric from $194.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of General Electric from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of General Electric from $201.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on General Electric from $198.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, General Electric has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.47.

General Electric Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The company has a 50 day moving average of $174.81 and a two-hundred day moving average of $173.03. The firm has a market cap of $181.84 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.53, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.17.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.02. General Electric had a net margin of 11.48% and a return on equity of 18.93%. The company had revenue of $9.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.82 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that General Electric will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

General Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Russell Stokes sold 15,550 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.29, for a total value of $2,772,409.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 148,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,539,714.53. This represents a 9.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Riccardo Procacci sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.13, for a total value of $1,267,910.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,407,036.57. This represents a 34.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of General Electric

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of General Electric by 117.7% in the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 270 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of General Electric by 10.5% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 603,988 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $96,016,000 after purchasing an additional 57,372 shares in the last quarter. Marietta Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Electric in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,569,000. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of General Electric by 2.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 43,322,827 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $8,181,801,000 after purchasing an additional 898,296 shares during the period. Finally, Soltis Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in General Electric by 269.8% in the third quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 28,201 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $5,318,000 after buying an additional 20,575 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

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.