General Electric (NYSE:GE) Price Target Increased to $211.00 by Analysts at The Goldman Sachs Group

General Electric (NYSE:GE) had its price objective upped by The Goldman Sachs Group from $190.00 to $211.00 in a research report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the conglomerate’s stock.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on GE. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of General Electric in a research report on Sunday, April 21st. They issued a hold rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on General Electric from $200.00 to $165.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. TheStreet raised General Electric from a c+ rating to a b+ rating in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Vertical Research assumed coverage on General Electric in a report on Thursday, April 4th. They set a buy rating and a $160.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on General Electric from $180.00 to $148.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $170.00.

General Electric Stock Performance

GE opened at $162.31 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $160.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $136.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $177.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.29. General Electric has a 12-month low of $77.28 and a 12-month high of $163.65.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.25 billion. General Electric had a return on equity of 12.54% and a net margin of 5.05%. General Electric’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.27 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that General Electric will post 3.95 earnings per share for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 25th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 36.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Electric

In other General Electric news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.87, for a total transaction of $3,195,107.85. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, 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 in the company, valued at $6,552,351.45. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of General Electric stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.87, for a total value of $3,195,107.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 56,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,153,863.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Electric

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of General Electric during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,193,159,000. WCM Investment Management LLC bought a new position in General Electric in the 4th quarter valued at $520,488,000. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its position in General Electric by 265.7% in the 3rd quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 3,008,425 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $332,581,000 after buying an additional 2,185,793 shares during the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Electric in the 4th quarter valued at $268,519,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of General Electric by 11,947.8% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,576,570 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $201,218,000 after acquiring an additional 1,563,484 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

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.