Brokerages Set General Electric (NYSE:GE) Price Target at $170.00

General Electric (NYSE:GE) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $172.29.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on GE. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on General Electric from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Citigroup upped their target price on General Electric from $120.43 to $186.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Barclays cut their target price on General Electric from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. TD Cowen upgraded General Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $175.00 to $180.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Vertical Research began coverage on General Electric in a report on Thursday, April 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $160.00 price target for the company.

General Electric Stock Performance

General Electric stock opened at $161.75 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $161.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $137.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $177.05 billion, a PE ratio of 53.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.82 and a current ratio of 1.17. General Electric has a one year low of $77.93 and a one year high of $166.26.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.25 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.27 EPS. General Electric’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that General Electric will post 3.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in General Electric by 29.3% during the 4th quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 28,311 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,613,000 after acquiring an additional 6,419 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in General Electric by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 261,187 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $33,335,000 after acquiring an additional 28,985 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Electric by 10.9% in the third quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 109,332 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $12,087,000 after buying an additional 10,722 shares during the period. Grandfield & Dodd LLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Electric by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 269,783 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $34,432,000 after buying an additional 22,998 shares during the period. Finally, Qsemble Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of General Electric in the third quarter valued at $1,846,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.