General Electric (NYSE:GE) Stock Price Down 0.5% – Should You Sell?

General Electric (NYSE:GE)’s stock price was down 0.5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $208.89 and last traded at $209.05. Approximately 521,433 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 90% from the average daily volume of 5,426,338 shares. The stock had previously closed at $210.08.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of General Electric in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of General Electric from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of General Electric from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Northcoast Research started coverage on shares of General Electric in a research note on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of General Electric from $216.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $211.31.

General Electric Trading Up 0.3 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.09. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $184.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $180.02. The stock has a market cap of $226.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.22.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.27. General Electric had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 22.19%. Equities research analysts expect that General Electric will post 5.39 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.68%. This is a positive change from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. General Electric’s payout ratio is currently 18.70%.

Institutional Trading of General Electric

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GE. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in General Electric by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 89,815,318 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $14,980,297,000 after buying an additional 410,172 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in General Electric by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 66,823,968 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $11,145,570,000 after purchasing an additional 965,012 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in General Electric by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 43,322,827 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $8,181,801,000 after purchasing an additional 898,296 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of General Electric by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 23,117,418 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,846,587,000 after purchasing an additional 529,457 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of General Electric in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,375,439,000. Institutional investors 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.