General Electric (NYSE:GE) Shares Up 1.2% – Time to Buy?

General Electric (NYSE:GE) shares shot up 1.2% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $212.19 and last traded at $210.72. 848,316 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 5,470,866 shares. The stock had previously closed at $208.27.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on GE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of General Electric from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Northcoast Research began coverage on shares of General Electric in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective 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. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of General Electric from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $211.31.

General Electric Stock Down 0.7 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $224.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.22. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $185.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $180.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 1.09.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.27. General Electric had a return on equity of 22.19% and a net margin of 14.31%. On average, equities analysts expect that General Electric will post 5.4 EPS for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. This is a boost from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 18.70%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Electric

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of General Electric by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 89,815,318 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $14,980,297,000 after acquiring an additional 410,172 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of General Electric by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 66,823,968 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $11,145,570,000 after acquiring an additional 965,012 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 898,296 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in General Electric by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 23,117,418 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,846,587,000 after buying an additional 529,457 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in General Electric during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,375,439,000. Hedge funds and other 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.