General Electric (NYSE:GE) Price Target Raised to $180.00

General Electric (NYSE:GE) had its price target hoisted by Argus from $170.00 to $180.00 in a research note published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the conglomerate’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of General Electric from $200.00 to $165.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Oppenheimer reissued a market perform rating on shares of General Electric in a research note on Tuesday, March 5th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of General Electric in a research note on Sunday, April 21st. They issued a hold rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of General Electric from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of General Electric from $180.00 to $148.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Two 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.com, the company presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $170.00.

General Electric Stock Performance

NYSE:GE opened at $162.31 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $160.72 and its 200-day moving average is $136.09. General Electric has a 52-week low of $77.28 and a 52-week high of $163.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.17. The company has a market cap of $177.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.22, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.29.

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

General Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th were given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.69%. This is a positive change from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 12th. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is presently 36.72%.

Insider Transactions at General Electric

In other news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 13,601 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total transaction of $1,843,615.55. Following the transaction, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 56,284 shares in the company, valued at $8,153,863.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 13,601 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total transaction of $1,843,615.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 48,339 shares in the company, valued at $6,552,351.45. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.66% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Electric

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of GE. Norges Bank acquired a new position in General Electric in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,193,159,000. WCM Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in General Electric in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $520,488,000. Brown Advisory Inc. lifted its holdings in General Electric by 265.7% in the third 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 period. Lone Pine Capital LLC acquired a new position in General Electric in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $268,519,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in General Electric by 11,947.8% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,576,570 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $201,218,000 after buying an additional 1,563,484 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.