General Electric (NYSE:GE) Given Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

General Electric (NYSE:GE) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen analysts that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and thirteen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $170.00.

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of General Electric from $190.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of General Electric from $180.00 to $148.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Vertical Research initiated coverage on shares of General Electric in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $160.00 target price on the stock. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of General Electric in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of General Electric in a research note on Sunday, April 21st. They set a “hold” rating on the stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.87, for a total value of $3,195,107.85. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 56,284 shares in the company, valued at $8,153,863.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.87, for a total value of $3,195,107.85. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 56,284 shares in the company, valued at $8,153,863.08. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 13,601 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total transaction of $1,843,615.55. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 48,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,552,351.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of General Electric

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Halpern Financial Inc. increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in General Electric during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. CGC Financial Services LLC increased its holdings in General Electric by 90.2% during the fourth quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 232 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Capital Analysts LLC increased its holdings in General Electric by 55.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 243 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bfsg LLC purchased a new stake in General Electric during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

General Electric Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE:GE opened at $162.35 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $160.72 and its 200-day moving average is $136.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.17. General Electric has a 52 week low of $77.28 and a 52 week high of $163.65. The firm has a market cap of $177.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.23, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.29.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.17. General Electric had a net margin of 5.05% and a return on equity of 12.54%. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.27 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that General Electric will post 3.95 earnings per share for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is an increase from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 12th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.