General Electric (NYSE:GE) Shares Up 1.7% – Should You Buy?

General Electric (NYSE:GE) traded up 1.7% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $183.45 and last traded at $183.21. 704,707 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 89% from the average session volume of 6,173,176 shares. The stock had previously closed at $180.21.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Melius Research increased their target price on General Electric from $194.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on General Electric from $212.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. StockNews.com cut General Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Bank of America upped their price target on General Electric from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on General Electric from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $200.93.

General Electric Trading Up 2.5 %

The company has a market cap of $199.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.20, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 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 firm has a fifty day moving average price of $183.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $171.22.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.02. General Electric had a return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 11.48%. The business had revenue of $9.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.82 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that General Electric will post 4.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 26th were issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 26th. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is 19.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Electric

In other General Electric news, SVP Russell Stokes sold 15,550 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.29, for a total transaction of $2,772,409.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 148,857 shares in the company, valued at $26,539,714.53. This trade represents a 9.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Riccardo Procacci sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.13, for a total value of $1,267,910.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,289 shares in the company, valued at $2,407,036.57. The trade was a 34.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of General Electric by 2.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 43,322,827 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $8,181,801,000 after purchasing an additional 898,296 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of General Electric by 0.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 22,587,961 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $4,244,676,000 after purchasing an additional 156,272 shares during the period. Newport Trust Company LLC bought a new position in General Electric in the second quarter valued at about $2,613,332,000. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in General Electric by 5.8% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,405,731 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,336,257,000 after acquiring an additional 459,201 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in General Electric by 91.8% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 7,771,759 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,465,598,000 after acquiring an additional 3,719,894 shares during the last quarter. 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.