General Electric (NYSE:GE) Trading Down 1.4%

General Electric (NYSE:GE)’s stock price traded down 1.4% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $167.70 and last traded at $169.58. 1,777,473 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 7,113,744 shares. The stock had previously closed at $172.00.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on GE. 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on General Electric from $192.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Argus increased their target price on General Electric from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of General Electric in a research note on Monday, April 29th. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of General Electric from $148.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $183.93.

General Electric Trading Up 3.1 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $184.13 billion, a PE ratio of 55.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $162.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $156.01.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.21. General Electric had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 7.66%. The firm had revenue of $9.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.44 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.68 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that General Electric will post 4.02 EPS for the current year.

General Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 11th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 11th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.66%. General Electric’s payout ratio is presently 36.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other General Electric news, SVP Russell Stokes sold 45,309 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.82, for a total value of $7,377,211.38. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 112,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,391,821.56. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.66% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of General Electric

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GE. Halpern Financial Inc. boosted its position in 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 purchasing an additional 184 shares in the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Electric during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Capital Analysts LLC lifted its position in shares of General Electric by 55.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 243 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in General Electric in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Bfsg LLC purchased a new stake in General Electric in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. 74.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.