General Electric (NYSE:GE) Hits New 12-Month High at $166.92

General Electric (NYSE:GE)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $166.92 and last traded at $167.26, with a volume of 655171 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $164.11.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of General Electric in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of General Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $175.00 to $180.00 in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Argus upped their target price on General Electric from $170.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. TheStreet raised shares of General Electric from a “c+” rating to a “b+” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on General Electric from $180.00 to $148.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Electric presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $172.29.

General Electric Trading Up 2.4 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $183.86 billion, a PE ratio of 54.84, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.25. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $161.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $138.30.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion during 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%. General Electric’s quarterly revenue was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.27 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that General Electric will post 3.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th were given a $0.28 dividend. This is a positive change from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 12th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.67%. General Electric’s payout ratio is currently 36.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Electric

In related 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 value of $3,195,107.85. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 56,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,153,863.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.66% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of General Electric

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in General Electric during the 1st quarter worth about $34,000. Halpern Financial Inc. increased its holdings in General Electric by 968.4% during the 4th quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. now owns 203 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the period. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in General Electric in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. CGC Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Analysts LLC boosted its stake in General Electric by 55.8% during the fourth 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 period. Institutional investors own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

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.