GE Aerospace (NYSE:GE) Trading Up 0.8% After Analyst Upgrade

GE Aerospace (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report)'s share price shot up 0.8% on Thursday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $212.00 to $222.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock. GE Aerospace traded as high as $197.31 and last traded at $195.16. 1,638,173 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 73% from the average session volume of 5,983,101 shares. The stock had previously closed at $193.68.

GE has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of GE Aerospace from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reduced their price target on GE Aerospace from $235.00 to $228.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 2nd. Northcoast Research upgraded GE Aerospace from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $205.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. UBS Group raised their price objective on GE Aerospace from $207.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on GE Aerospace from $235.00 to $227.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $216.92.

Institutional Trading of GE Aerospace

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GE. Smallwood Wealth Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of GE Aerospace in the 1st quarter worth $59,000. Smith Salley Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of GE Aerospace in the first quarter valued at $229,000. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of GE Aerospace during the first quarter valued at about $230,000. Essex LLC raised its holdings in shares of GE Aerospace by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Essex LLC now owns 20,150 shares of the company's stock worth $4,033,000 after acquiring an additional 484 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Parlapiano Turner & Welch LLC bought a new position in GE Aerospace in the 1st quarter valued at about $225,000. Institutional investors own 74.77% of the company's stock.

GE Aerospace Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88. The company's 50-day moving average is $194.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $186.67. The firm has a market cap of $213.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.15, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.04.

GE Aerospace (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The company reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.20. GE Aerospace had a return on equity of 22.19% and a net margin of 14.31%. The company had revenue of $9.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.06 billion. As a group, equities analysts predict that GE Aerospace will post 5.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

GE Aerospace Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th were paid a $0.36 dividend. This is a positive change from GE Aerospace's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 10th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.73%. GE Aerospace's dividend payout ratio is presently 22.40%.

About GE Aerospace

GE Aerospace (also known as General Electric) is a company that specializes in providing aerospace products and services. It operates through two reportable segments: Commercial Engines and Services and Defense and Propulsion Technologies. It offers jet and turboprop engines, as well as integrated systems for commercial, military, business, and general aviation aircraft.