General Electric (NYSE:GE) Short Interest Update

General Electric (NYSE:GE) saw a large growth in short interest in the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 13,180,000 shares, a growth of 11.1% from the December 15th total of 11,860,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,770,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.8 days. Approximately 1.2% of the company’s stock are short sold.

General Electric Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE GE traded up $3.09 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $182.83. 5,887,078 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,238,171. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $174.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $174.16. General Electric has a twelve month low of $101.16 and a twelve month high of $194.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $197.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.13, a PEG ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 1.19.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $9.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.02 billion. General Electric had a net margin of 11.48% and a return on equity of 18.93%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.82 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that General Electric will post 4.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Electric

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Electric

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GE. State Street Corp grew its holdings in General Electric by 2.1% during 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 grew its position in General Electric by 0.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 22,587,961 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $4,244,676,000 after buying an additional 156,272 shares in the last quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC acquired a new position in General Electric in the second quarter valued at about $2,613,332,000. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of General Electric by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,405,731 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,336,257,000 after acquiring an additional 459,201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of General Electric by 91.8% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 7,771,759 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,465,598,000 after purchasing an additional 3,719,894 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Northcoast Research assumed coverage on shares of General Electric in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of General Electric from $201.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on General Electric from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on General Electric from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on General Electric from $198.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $201.47.

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.