General Electric (NYSE:GE) Reaches New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

General Electric (NYSE:GE) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $165.00 to $192.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. General Electric traded as high as $166.00 and last traded at $165.89, with a volume of 2300001 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $162.35.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the company. Vertical Research initiated coverage on General Electric in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $160.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada raised 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. TheStreet upgraded General Electric from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. TD Cowen upgraded General Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $175.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on General Electric from $190.00 to $211.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $172.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 13,601 shares of General Electric stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total value of $1,843,615.55. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now directly 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 accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 56,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,153,863.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 13,601 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total value of $1,843,615.55. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,552,351.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of General Electric

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Halpern Financial Inc. boosted its position in General Electric by 968.4% during the fourth quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. now owns 203 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Electric in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. CGC Financial Services LLC lifted its position in shares of General Electric by 90.2% in the fourth quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 232 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Capital Analysts LLC lifted its position in shares of General Electric by 55.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 243 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Horrell Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of General Electric in the first quarter worth about $44,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

General Electric Stock Down 1.7 %

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $161.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $137.17. The company has a market cap of $177.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.03, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.25 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.27 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that General Electric will post 3.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

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

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.