General Electric (NYSE:GE) Shares Down 0.1% – Time to Sell?

General Electric (NYSE:GE) shares were down 0.1% on Monday . The stock traded as low as $175.13 and last traded at $176.81. Approximately 530,463 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 91% from the average daily volume of 6,218,050 shares. The stock had previously closed at $176.93.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on GE shares. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of General Electric from $223.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Melius Research lifted their price target on shares of General Electric from $194.00 to $202.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of General Electric from $198.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of General Electric from $205.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of General Electric from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $200.93.

General Electric Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $182.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $170.91. The firm has a market cap of $192.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.20, 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 (NYSE:GE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.13 by $0.02. General Electric had a return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 11.48%. The business had revenue of $9.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.82 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that General Electric will post 4.22 EPS for the current year.

General Electric Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, September 26th were paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.63%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.68%.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Riccardo Procacci sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.13, for a total transaction of $1,267,910.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,407,036.57. This represents a 34.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.66% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Electric

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Toth Financial Advisory Corp purchased a new stake in shares of General Electric during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. purchased a new stake in General Electric in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in General Electric in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in General Electric in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Studio Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in General Electric by 97.5% in the 2nd quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 158 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. 74.77% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.