General Electric (NYSE:GE) Shares Up 0.6%

General Electric (NYSE:GE) traded up 0.6% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $175.05 and last traded at $174.59. 929,168 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 5,894,241 shares. The stock had previously closed at $173.49.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com assumed coverage on General Electric in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised General Electric from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $166.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Friday, March 8th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on General Electric from $148.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Citigroup raised their price target on General Electric from $135.00 to $148.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 11th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on General Electric from $177.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $150.54.

General Electric Stock Up 3.8 %

The stock has a market cap of $196.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.52, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $150.52 and a two-hundred day moving average of $129.01.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $19.42 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.27 billion. General Electric had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 13.95%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 15.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.24 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that General Electric will post 4.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Electric news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was 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 owns 56,284 shares in the company, valued at $8,153,863.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 13,601 shares of General Electric stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total transaction of $1,843,615.55. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,552,351.45. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of General Electric stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.87, for a total value of $3,195,107.85. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 56,284 shares in the company, valued at $8,153,863.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.66% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of General Electric

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC bought a new stake in General Electric in the fourth quarter valued at about $4,228,000. Ables Iannone Moore & Associates Inc. bought a new stake in General Electric in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. MONECO Advisors LLC increased its holdings in General Electric by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 2,089 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $267,000 after buying an additional 229 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in General Electric in the fourth quarter valued at about $325,000. Finally, Spartan Planning & Wealth Management increased its holdings in General Electric by 334.9% in the fourth quarter. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management now owns 1,570 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $200,000 after buying an additional 1,209 shares during the last quarter. 74.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About General Electric

General Electric Company operates as a high-tech industrial company in Europe, China, Asia, the Americas, the Middle East, and Africa. It offers gas and steam turbines, full balance of plant, upgrade, and service solutions, as well as data-leveraging software for power generation, industrial, government, and other customers.