General Electric (NYSE:GE) Shares Down 0.1% – Should You Sell?

General Electric (NYSE:GE)’s stock price fell 0.1% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $170.71 and last traded at $172.06. 895,447 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average session volume of 4,068,377 shares. The stock had previously closed at $172.31.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on GE. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of General Electric from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on General Electric from $201.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Northcoast Research began coverage on General Electric in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a “neutral” rating for the company. Melius Research increased their price target on General Electric from $194.00 to $202.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on General Electric from $198.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.47.

General Electric Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The business’s 50-day moving average is $174.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $173.28. The company has a market capitalization of $187.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.19.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $9.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.82 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that General Electric will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current year.

General Electric Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 19.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other General Electric news, SVP Russell Stokes sold 15,550 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.29, for a total value of $2,772,409.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 148,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,539,714.53. This trade represents a 9.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Riccardo Procacci sold 7,000 shares of General Electric stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.13, for a total value 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 trade represents a 34.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.66% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of GE. State Street Corp grew its holdings in General Electric by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 43,322,827 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $8,181,801,000 after buying an additional 898,296 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in General Electric by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 22,587,961 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $4,244,676,000 after acquiring an additional 156,272 shares during the period. Newport Trust Company LLC purchased a new stake in General Electric in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,613,332,000. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in General Electric by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,405,731 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,336,257,000 after purchasing an additional 459,201 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in shares of General Electric by 91.8% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 7,771,759 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,465,598,000 after purchasing an additional 3,719,894 shares in the last quarter. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.