General Electric (NYSE:GE) Stock Price Up 0.7% – Still a Buy?

General Electric (NYSE:GE)’s stock price rose 0.7% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $182.60 and last traded at $181.88. Approximately 584,266 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 90% from the average daily volume of 6,148,183 shares. The stock had previously closed at $180.60.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on GE. Bank of America raised their price target on General Electric from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of General Electric from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Melius Research increased their price objective on shares of General Electric from $194.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on shares of General Electric from $212.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on General Electric from $223.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, General Electric has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.93.

General Electric Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $197.15 billion, a PE ratio of 31.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.19. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $183.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $171.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.02. General Electric had a net margin of 11.48% and a return on equity of 18.93%. The company had revenue of $9.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.82 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that General Electric will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

General Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 26th were issued 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 was Thursday, September 26th. General Electric’s payout ratio is 19.68%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Electric news, SVP Russell Stokes sold 15,550 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 represents a 9.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 transaction of $1,267,910.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,289 shares in the company, 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. 0.66% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Electric

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Toth Financial Advisory Corp acquired a new position in General Electric during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of General Electric during the third quarter worth about $25,000. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Electric during the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of General Electric in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Studio Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in General Electric by 97.5% in the 2nd quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 158 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. 74.77% of the stock is 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.