General Electric (NYSE:GE) Earns Hold Rating from Analysts at StockNews.com

StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) in a report released on Monday. The firm issued a hold rating on the conglomerate’s stock.

GE has been the subject of several other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of General Electric from $180.00 to $148.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Oppenheimer restated a market perform rating on shares of General Electric in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. TheStreet raised General Electric from a c+ rating to a b+ rating in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on General Electric from $200.00 to $165.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on General Electric from $120.43 to $186.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Two 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 company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $172.29.

General Electric Stock Performance

General Electric stock opened at $159.70 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.17. General Electric has a one year low of $77.93 and a one year high of $166.26. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $161.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $137.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $174.81 billion, a PE ratio of 52.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.29.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.25 billion. General Electric had a net margin of 5.05% and a return on equity of 12.54%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.27 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that General Electric will post 3.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is a positive change from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 12th. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 36.72%.

Insider Activity

In other General Electric news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 13,601 shares of General Electric stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total value of $1,843,615.55. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 48,339 shares in the company, valued at $6,552,351.45. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other General Electric news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 13,601 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total transaction of $1,843,615.55. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 48,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,552,351.45. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.87, for a total transaction of $3,195,107.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 56,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,153,863.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Electric

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Halpern Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of General Electric by 968.4% in the fourth quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. now owns 203 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in General Electric in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. CGC Financial Services LLC increased its position in General Electric by 90.2% in the 4th quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 232 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Capital Analysts LLC raised its stake in shares of General Electric by 55.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 243 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Horrell Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of General Electric during the 1st quarter valued at about $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

About General Electric

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.