Citigroup Boosts General Electric (NYSE:GE) Price Target to $186.00

General Electric (NYSE:GE) had its price target lifted by Citigroup from $120.43 to $186.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the conglomerate’s stock.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. TD Cowen upgraded General Electric from a hold rating to a buy rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $175.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on General Electric from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on General Electric from $195.00 to $180.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on General Electric from $180.00 to $148.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, TheStreet raised General Electric from a c+ rating to a b+ rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $170.00.

General Electric Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of GE stock opened at $162.35 on Thursday. 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 1 year low of $77.28 and a 1 year high of $163.65. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $160.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $136.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $177.71 billion, a PE ratio of 53.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.29.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.17. General Electric had a return on equity of 12.54% and a net margin of 5.05%. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.27 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that General Electric will post 3.93 EPS for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, April 12th. This is a positive change from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. General Electric’s payout ratio is 36.72%.

Insider Activity at General Electric

In related news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.87, for a total transaction of $3,195,107.85. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 56,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,153,863.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.87, for a total transaction of $3,195,107.85. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 56,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,153,863.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 13,601 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total value of $1,843,615.55. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,339 shares in the company, valued at $6,552,351.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.66% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Walker Asset Management LLC grew its stake in General Electric by 1.7% in the first quarter. Walker Asset Management LLC now owns 4,111 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $722,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in General Electric by 2.6% in the first quarter. BKM Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,821 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $495,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares in the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. grew its stake in General Electric by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 4,316 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $550,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its stake in General Electric by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 6,377 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $814,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Schnieders Capital Management LLC grew its stake in General Electric by 1.1% in the first quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC now owns 6,817 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,197,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

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.