General Electric (NYSE:GE) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

General Electric (NYSE:GE) saw a significant growth in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 13,180,000 shares, a growth of 11.1% from the December 15th total of 11,860,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 4,770,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.8 days. Approximately 1.2% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insider Transactions at General Electric

In related news, SVP Russell Stokes sold 15,550 shares of the firm’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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,539,714.53. This trade represents a 9.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Riccardo Procacci sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cerro Pacific Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in General Electric in the 4th quarter worth about $198,000. FCG Investment Co lifted its position in shares of General Electric by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. FCG Investment Co now owns 9,831 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,640,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of General Electric by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Key Client Fiduciary Advisors LLC now owns 2,507 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $418,000 after acquiring an additional 214 shares in the last quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC grew its position in General Electric by 28.1% during the 4th quarter. Secure Asset Management LLC now owns 6,402 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,068,000 after purchasing an additional 1,406 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Red Door Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in General Electric by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,444 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $241,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GE. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on General Electric from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Bank of America upped their price target on General Electric from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of General Electric from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Melius Research increased their target price on shares of General Electric from $194.00 to $202.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of General Electric from $198.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Three 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 an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.47.

General Electric Price Performance

Shares of General Electric stock traded up $3.09 on Monday, hitting $182.83. The company had a trading volume of 5,887,078 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,238,171. General Electric has a 52 week low of $101.16 and a 52 week high of $194.80. The company has a market cap of $197.87 billion, a PE ratio of 32.13, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.19. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $174.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $174.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $9.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.02 billion. General Electric had a return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 11.48%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.82 EPS. Research analysts expect that General Electric will post 4.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.68%.

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.