General Electric (NYSE:GE) Hits New 52-Week High – Time to Buy?

General Electric (NYSE:GE) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $212.20 and last traded at $212.27, with a volume of 644459 shares. The stock had previously closed at $210.23.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently issued reports on GE. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price objective on shares of General Electric from $235.00 to $228.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 2nd. Citigroup boosted their price target on General Electric from $216.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. UBS Group increased their price objective on General Electric from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on General Electric from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on General Electric from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $211.31.

General Electric Trading Down 2.3 %

The firm has a market cap of $222.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.61, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.19. The company’s 50 day moving average is $200.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $185.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.27. General Electric had a return on equity of 22.19% and a net margin of 14.31%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that General Electric will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a $0.36 dividend. This is a boost from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 24.04%.

Institutional Trading of General Electric

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in General Electric by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 89,815,318 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $14,980,297,000 after buying an additional 410,172 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Electric by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 66,823,968 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $11,145,570,000 after acquiring an additional 965,012 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of General Electric by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 43,322,827 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $8,181,801,000 after purchasing an additional 898,296 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Electric by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 23,117,418 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,846,587,000 after purchasing an additional 529,457 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of General Electric during the 4th quarter worth about $2,375,439,000. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.