General Electric (NYSE:GE) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $194.23, but opened at $184.50. General Electric shares last traded at $181.24, with a volume of 3,061,117 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on GE shares. UBS Group boosted their price target on General Electric from $201.00 to $209.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 1st. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of General Electric from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of General Electric from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on shares of General Electric from $201.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, Melius Research raised their target price on General Electric from $194.00 to $202.00 in a report on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $198.53.

General Electric Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $196.53 billion, a PE ratio of 57.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $179.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $167.91. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

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

General Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 26th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, September 26th. General Electric’s payout ratio is presently 36.72%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GE. Toth Financial Advisory Corp purchased a new position in General Electric in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Studio Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Electric by 97.5% in the 2nd quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 158 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the period. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of General Electric during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in General Electric during the 1st quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Financial Connections Group Inc. bought a new stake in General Electric in the second quarter worth $32,000. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.