General Electric (NYSE:GE) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

General Electric (NYSE:GE) has received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the sixteen brokerages that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $208.73.

GE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of General Electric from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of General Electric from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of General Electric in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of General Electric from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of General Electric from $235.00 to $228.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd.

General Electric Price Performance

GE opened at $204.03 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $220.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 1.19. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $177.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $176.54. General Electric has a 52-week low of $108.60 and a 52-week high of $207.65.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.27. General Electric had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 22.19%. As a group, analysts predict that General Electric will post 5.39 EPS for the current year.

General Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, January 27th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 27th were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.55%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, December 27th. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 18.70%.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Electric

In other General Electric news, SVP Russell Stokes sold 15,550 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $26,539,714.53. This trade represents a 9.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Riccardo Procacci sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,407,036.57. This trade represents a 34.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GE. Toth Financial Advisory Corp bought a new stake in General Electric in the third quarter worth $25,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. bought a new stake in General Electric in the third quarter worth $25,000. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in General Electric in the third quarter worth $27,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in General Electric in the third quarter worth $28,000. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in General Electric in the third quarter worth $30,000. 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.