General Electric (NYSE:GE) Shares Down 5.5%

General Electric (NYSE:GE) was down 5.5% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $159.40 and last traded at $160.44. Approximately 2,387,456 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 66% from the average daily volume of 7,087,635 shares. The stock had previously closed at $169.75.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on GE. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of General Electric from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of General Electric from $192.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on General Electric from $148.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 13th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of General Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $175.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Argus raised their price target on shares of General Electric from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Electric presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $185.71.

General Electric Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $162.97 and its 200-day moving average price is $157.41. The stock has a market cap of $173.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.60, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.21.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.21. General Electric had a net margin of 7.66% and a return on equity of 16.07%. The company had revenue of $9.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.44 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.68 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that General Electric will post 4.15 earnings per share for the current year.

General Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 11th were paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.70%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 11th. General Electric’s payout ratio is currently 36.72%.

Insider Activity at General Electric

In other General Electric news, SVP Russell Stokes sold 45,309 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.82, for a total transaction of $7,377,211.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 112,958 shares in the company, valued at $18,391,821.56. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.66% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GE. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Electric during the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of General Electric during the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of General Electric during the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd bought a new position in General Electric during the first quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Macroview Investment Management LLC raised its stake in General Electric by 37.9% during the second quarter. Macroview Investment Management LLC now owns 211 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.