General Electric (NYSE:GE) Trading Up 0.5% Following Analyst Upgrade

General Electric (NYSE:GE)’s stock price shot up 0.5% during mid-day trading on Friday after Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on the stock from $210.00 to $212.00. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft currently has a buy rating on the stock. General Electric traded as high as $187.07 and last traded at $187.05. 1,820,223 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 72% from the average session volume of 6,602,003 shares. The stock had previously closed at $186.16.

GE has been the topic of a number of other reports. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on General Electric from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of General Electric from $201.00 to $209.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 1st. StockNews.com cut shares of General Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on General Electric from $192.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on General Electric in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $201.00 price target for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, General Electric presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $191.36.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Electric

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Macroview Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of General Electric by 37.9% during the 2nd quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 211 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Allegheny Financial Group LTD boosted its position in shares of General Electric by 1.4% in the second quarter. Allegheny Financial Group LTD now owns 4,489 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $714,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the period. New England Research & Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of General Electric by 2.2% in the second quarter. New England Research & Management Inc. now owns 2,910 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $463,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Certified Advisory Corp raised its position in shares of General Electric by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Certified Advisory Corp now owns 6,572 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,045,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Finally, Argent Trust Co lifted its stake in shares of General Electric by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Argent Trust Co now owns 10,737 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,707,000 after buying an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

General Electric Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.14. The company has a market cap of $205.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $168.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $170.77.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.21. The firm had revenue of $9.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.44 billion. General Electric had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 7.66%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.68 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that General Electric will post 4.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 26th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.60%. General Electric’s payout ratio is 36.72%.

General Electric Company Profile

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.