General Electric (NYSE:GE) Trading Up 0.5% Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) were up 0.5% during trading on Friday after Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on the stock from $210.00 to $212.00. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft currently has a buy rating on the stock. General Electric traded as high as $187.07 and last traded at $187.05. Approximately 1,820,223 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 72% from the average daily volume of 6,602,003 shares. The stock had previously closed at $186.16.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on GE. StockNews.com cut General Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of General Electric in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $201.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of General Electric from $201.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 1st. Barclays upped their target price on General Electric from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of General Electric from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, General Electric currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $191.36.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Electric

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GE. Newport Trust Company LLC purchased a new stake in General Electric in the second quarter worth about $2,613,332,000. Capital World Investors grew its position in General Electric by 2,818.1% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,749,560 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,237,930,000 after purchasing an additional 12,312,648 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its stake in General Electric by 9.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 59,100,643 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $10,373,936,000 after purchasing an additional 5,309,543 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in General Electric by 221.6% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 7,121,741 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,250,079,000 after buying an additional 4,907,530 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA bought a new position in shares of General Electric in the second quarter worth approximately $580,200,000. Institutional investors own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

General Electric Stock Up 0.7 %

The company has a market cap of $205.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.65 and a beta of 1.18. The company’s 50-day moving average is $168.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $171.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $9.09 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.44 billion. General Electric had a net margin of 7.66% and a return on equity of 16.07%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.68 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that General Electric will post 4.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 26th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.60%. General Electric’s payout ratio is presently 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.