General Electric (NYSE:GE) Short Interest Up 5.5% in December

General Electric (NYSE:GE) was the target of a large increase in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 11,860,000 shares, an increase of 5.5% from the November 30th total of 11,240,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 4,710,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.5 days. Approximately 1.1% of the company’s stock are sold short.

General Electric Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of General Electric stock opened at $168.59 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $182.46 billion, a PE ratio of 29.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.17. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $174.59 and a 200 day moving average price of $173.00. General Electric has a 1 year low of $98.92 and a 1 year high of $194.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $9.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.02 billion. General Electric had a return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 11.48%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.82 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that General Electric will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current year.

General Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.66%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 19.68%.

Insider Activity

In other General Electric news, SVP Riccardo Procacci sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.13, for a total transaction of $1,267,910.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,407,036.57. This represents a 34.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Russell Stokes sold 15,550 shares of General Electric stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.29, for a total transaction of $2,772,409.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 148,857 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,539,714.53. The trade was a 9.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of General Electric

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Old Port Advisors boosted its position in General Electric by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Old Port Advisors now owns 5,609 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $936,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of General Electric by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,323,553 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $249,596,000 after buying an additional 48,543 shares in the last quarter. SMART Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in General Electric in the 3rd quarter valued at $354,000. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC purchased a new stake in General Electric in the 3rd quarter worth $44,725,000. Finally, B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in General Electric by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 20,655 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $3,862,000 after acquiring an additional 1,193 shares in the last quarter. 74.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GE has been the topic of several analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of General Electric from $201.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on General Electric from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group increased their price target on General Electric from $223.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Bank of America boosted their price target on General Electric from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of General Electric from $198.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.47.

About General Electric

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.