General Electric (NYSE:GE) Price Target Raised to $186.00 at Citigroup

General Electric (NYSE:GE) had its target price hoisted by Citigroup from $120.43 to $186.00 in a research note released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the conglomerate’s stock.

Several other analysts also recently commented on GE. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of General Electric from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of General Electric from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of General Electric from $200.00 to $165.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of General Electric from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, TheStreet raised shares of General Electric from a c+ rating to a b+ rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $170.00.

General Electric Stock Performance

General Electric stock traded up $1.75 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $163.01. 3,584,096 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,081,553. The firm has a market capitalization of $178.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.29. The business has a 50 day moving average of $160.45 and a two-hundred day moving average of $135.73. General Electric has a 12 month low of $77.28 and a 12 month high of $163.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.17. General Electric had a net margin of 5.05% and a return on equity of 12.54%. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.27 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that General Electric will post 3.95 earnings per share for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 12th. This is an increase from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. General Electric’s payout ratio is currently 36.72%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.87, for a total value of $3,195,107.85. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 56,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,153,863.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.87, for a total value of $3,195,107.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 56,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,153,863.08. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 13,601 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total transaction of $1,843,615.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 48,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,552,351.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.66% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Electric

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GE. Halpern Financial Inc. grew its holdings in shares of General Electric by 968.4% during the fourth quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. now owns 203 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Electric during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. CGC Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Electric by 90.2% during the fourth quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 232 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Capital Analysts LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Electric by 55.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 243 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. Finally, Horrell Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of General Electric in the first quarter valued at about $44,000. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.