General Electric (NYSE:GE) Shares Down 0.9% – Here’s Why

General Electric (NYSE:GE)’s share price traded down 0.9% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $163.53 and last traded at $164.26. 948,561 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 6,114,540 shares. The stock had previously closed at $165.79.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on GE shares. Melius Research increased their price objective on General Electric from $194.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on General Electric from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on General Electric from $198.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of General Electric from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of General Electric from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 11th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.93.

General Electric Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $178.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $172.43. The company has a market cap of $178.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.17.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.15 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $9.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.02 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.82 EPS. General Electric’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that General Electric will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Electric

In other General Electric news, SVP Russell Stokes sold 15,550 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.29, for a total value of $2,772,409.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 148,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,539,714.53. The trade was a 9.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Riccardo Procacci sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $2,407,036.57. This trade represents a 34.50 % decrease in their position. 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

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of GE. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in General Electric by 2.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 43,322,827 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $8,181,801,000 after buying an additional 898,296 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of General Electric by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 22,587,961 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $4,244,676,000 after acquiring an additional 156,272 shares during the period. Newport Trust Company LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Electric in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,613,332,000. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in General Electric by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,405,731 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,336,257,000 after purchasing an additional 459,201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in General Electric by 91.8% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 7,771,759 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,465,598,000 after purchasing an additional 3,719,894 shares during the last quarter. 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.