General Electric (NYSE:GE) Stock Price Down 1.3% – Should You Sell?

General Electric (NYSE:GE) shares dropped 1.3% during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $179.42 and last traded at $179.83. Approximately 730,126 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 6,131,130 shares. The stock had previously closed at $182.16.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on GE. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on General Electric from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on General Electric from $212.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of General Electric from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of General Electric from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on General Electric from $201.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.93.

General Electric Stock Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average of $183.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $171.80. 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 market capitalization of $195.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.60, a PEG ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 1.19.

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

General Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 26th were issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.68%.

Insider Transactions at General Electric

In other General Electric news, SVP Russell Stokes sold 15,550 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 148,857 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,539,714.53. This represents a 9.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Riccardo Procacci sold 7,000 shares of General Electric stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.13, for a total transaction of $1,267,910.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,407,036.57. This represents a 34.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.66% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of General Electric

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Studio Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of General Electric by 97.5% during the 2nd quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 158 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp bought a new position in shares of General Electric in the third quarter worth $25,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. bought a new stake in shares of General Electric during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Electric in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in General Electric during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. 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.