General Electric (NYSE:GE) Trading Up 1.7% After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) rose 1.7% during mid-day trading on Friday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $198.00 to $216.00. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the stock. General Electric traded as high as $191.74 and last traded at $191.41. Approximately 807,030 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 6,404,721 shares. The stock had previously closed at $188.12.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on General Electric from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, June 28th. UBS Group increased their price target on General Electric from $201.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 1st. Barclays increased their price target on General Electric from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on General Electric from $175.00 to $190.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on General Electric in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $201.00 price target for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $195.14.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

General Electric Trading Up 1.6 %

The firm has a market cap of $207.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.14. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $175.61 and a 200-day moving average of $166.60.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.20 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.21. General Electric had a return on equity of 16.07% and a net margin of 7.66%. The firm had revenue of $9.09 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.44 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.68 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that General Electric will post 4.2 earnings per share for the current year.

General Electric Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 26th will be given a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.59%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 26th. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 26.54%.

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.