General Electric (NYSE:GE) Shares Up 0.6% – Here’s What Happened

General Electric (NYSE:GE)’s share price was up 0.6% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $183.67 and last traded at $183.64. Approximately 1,045,571 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 5,841,966 shares. The stock had previously closed at $182.45.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on GE. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on General Electric from $235.00 to $228.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on General Electric in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $250.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of General Electric in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Bank of America increased their price objective on General Electric from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Northcoast Research raised shares of General Electric from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $205.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $213.33.

General Electric Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $197.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $197.13 and a 200 day simple moving average of $186.58.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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, research analysts predict that General Electric will post 5.4 EPS for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.78%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is a boost from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. General Electric’s payout ratio is currently 24.04%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Electric

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GE. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in General Electric in the 3rd quarter valued at about $3,400,000. Westside Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in General Electric by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,245 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $235,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of General Electric by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. Diamant Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,098 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,150,000 after purchasing an additional 158 shares in the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc grew its position in shares of General Electric by 30.2% during the third quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc now owns 18,616 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,511,000 after buying an additional 4,320 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SkyView Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in General Electric by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC now owns 12,240 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,308,000 after acquiring an additional 232 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.