Insider Selling: General Electric (NYSE:GE) SVP Sells 15,550 Shares of Stock

General Electric (NYSE:GE) SVP Russell Stokes sold 15,550 shares of General Electric stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.29, for a total value of $2,772,409.50. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 148,857 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,539,714.53. This trade represents a 9.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

General Electric Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE GE opened at $181.11 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $183.22 and its 200 day simple moving average is $171.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $196.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.83, a PEG ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. General Electric has a 52-week low of $94.54 and a 52-week high of $194.80.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last issued its quarterly 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. General Electric had a return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 11.48%. The firm had revenue of $9.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.82 EPS. General Electric’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that General Electric will post 4.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 26th were given a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.62%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on GE shares. Bank of America lifted their target price on General Electric from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of General Electric from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of General Electric from $223.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of General Electric from $201.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of General Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Two 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 has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $200.93.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Electric

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GE. Newport Trust Company LLC purchased a new stake in shares of General Electric in the second quarter valued at $2,613,332,000. Capital World Investors raised its position in General Electric by 2,818.1% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,749,560 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,237,930,000 after buying an additional 12,312,648 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 5,309,543 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its position in General Electric by 221.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 4,907,530 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 3,719,894 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

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.