General Electric (NYSE:GE) PT Raised to $186.00 at Citigroup

General Electric (NYSE:GE) had its price target boosted by Citigroup from $120.43 to $186.00 in a research report released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. Citigroup currently has a buy rating on the conglomerate’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the company. TheStreet upgraded General Electric from a c+ rating to a b+ rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on General Electric from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays lowered their price objective on General Electric from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an overweight rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on General Electric from $195.00 to $180.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on General Electric in a research note on Sunday, April 21st. They issued a hold rating on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus target price of $170.00.

General Electric Stock Performance

Shares of GE traded up $1.75 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $163.01. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,584,096 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,081,553. The stock has a market cap of $178.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.70, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. General Electric has a 1-year low of $77.28 and a 1-year high of $163.65. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $160.45 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $135.73.

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

General Electric Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at General Electric

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Electric

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Electric by 29.3% in the fourth quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 28,311 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,613,000 after acquiring an additional 6,419 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its holdings in General Electric by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 261,187 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $33,335,000 after purchasing an additional 28,985 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in General Electric by 10.9% during the third quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 109,332 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $12,087,000 after purchasing an additional 10,722 shares during the period. Grandfield & Dodd LLC grew its holdings in General Electric by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 269,783 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $34,432,000 after purchasing an additional 22,998 shares during the period. Finally, Hoey Investments Inc. grew its holdings in General Electric by 51,152.3% during the third quarter. Hoey Investments Inc. now owns 22,551 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,493,000 after purchasing an additional 22,507 shares during the period. 74.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.