General Electric (NYSE:GE) Stock Price Up 0.9% on Analyst Upgrade

General Electric (NYSE:GE) rose 0.9% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $203.00 to $212.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. General Electric traded as high as $187.88 and last traded at $187.72. Approximately 1,093,889 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 5,455,637 shares. The stock had previously closed at $186.00.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on GE. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective on shares of General Electric from $235.00 to $228.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Citigroup lowered their price target on General Electric from $235.00 to $227.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. 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 research report on Friday, January 24th. Northcoast Research raised shares of General Electric from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $205.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of General Electric from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, General Electric presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $213.33.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in General Electric during the 4th quarter worth about $2,375,439,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in General Electric by 23,611.7% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 5,065,997 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,013,959,000 after purchasing an additional 5,044,632 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Electric by 87.7% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 3,581,799 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $597,412,000 after buying an additional 1,673,365 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in General Electric by 14.4% during the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 9,544,757 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,591,970,000 after acquiring an additional 1,204,910 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of General Electric during the 4th quarter worth approximately $194,208,000. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

General Electric Stock Down 1.7 %

The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $197.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $186.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company has a market cap of $195.98 billion, a PE ratio of 30.48, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.04.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, analysts predict that General Electric will post 5.4 earnings per share for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.79%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, March 10th. This is a boost from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. General Electric’s payout ratio is 24.04%.

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.