General Electric (NYSE:GE) Stock Price Down 0.1% – Time to Sell?

General Electric (NYSE:GE)’s stock price dropped 0.1% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $170.71 and last traded at $172.06. Approximately 895,447 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 4,068,377 shares. The stock had previously closed at $172.31.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup boosted their price objective on General Electric from $198.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of General Electric from $223.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered their price objective on shares of General Electric from $235.00 to $228.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Melius Research upped their target price on shares of General Electric from $194.00 to $202.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on General Electric from $201.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.47.

General Electric Stock Up 0.4 %

The firm has a market cap of $187.17 billion, a PE ratio of 30.39, a PEG ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.13. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $174.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $173.28.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last posted 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. The company had revenue of $9.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.02 billion. General Electric had a return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 11.48%. General Electric’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.82 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that General Electric will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. General Electric’s payout ratio is 19.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Electric

In other General Electric news, SVP Riccardo Procacci sold 7,000 shares of General Electric stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,407,036.57. The trade was a 34.50 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Russell Stokes sold 15,550 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.29, for a total value of $2,772,409.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 148,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,539,714.53. This represents a 9.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Electric

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Studio Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Electric by 97.5% during the 2nd quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 158 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp bought a new stake in General Electric during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. purchased a new stake in General Electric in the third quarter worth about $25,000. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of General Electric during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of General Electric during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 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.