The Goldman Sachs Group Raises General Electric (NYSE:GE) Price Target to $211.00

General Electric (NYSE:GE) had its price target boosted by The Goldman Sachs Group from $190.00 to $211.00 in a research note released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a buy rating on the conglomerate’s stock.

GE has been the topic of a number of other research reports. StockNews.com started coverage on shares of General Electric in a research report on Sunday, April 21st. They set a hold rating on the stock. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a market perform rating on shares of General Electric in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their target price on General Electric from $210.00 to $190.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on General Electric from $200.00 to $165.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of General Electric from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, General Electric has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $170.00.

General Electric Stock Up 0.7 %

GE opened at $162.31 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $177.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.22, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.29. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $160.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $136.09. General Electric has a 52 week low of $77.28 and a 52 week high of $163.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 net margin of 5.05% and a return on equity of 12.54%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.27 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that General Electric will post 3.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 25th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th were issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 12th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. This is an increase from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 36.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Electric

In related news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 13,601 shares of General Electric stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were 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 owns 48,339 shares in the company, valued at $6,552,351.45. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 13,601 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were 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 owns 48,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,552,351.45. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.66% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Electric

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Halpern Financial Inc. increased its stake in General Electric by 968.4% during the fourth quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. now owns 203 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Electric in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. CGC Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Electric by 90.2% in the 4th quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 232 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the period. Capital Analysts LLC grew its position in shares of General Electric by 55.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 243 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bfsg LLC acquired a new stake in General Electric during the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. 74.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.