General Electric (NYSE:GE) Trading Down 1% - Here's What Happened

Shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report) traded down 1% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $166.85 and last traded at $166.90. 1,041,352 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 6,107,086 shares. The stock had previously closed at $168.64.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GE has been the topic of several analyst reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on General Electric from $212.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of General Electric from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Melius Research upped their price target on shares of General Electric from $194.00 to $202.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on General Electric from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on General Electric from $198.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $201.93.

General Electric Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $181.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $172.48. The stock has a market cap of $178.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.69 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

General Electric (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.15 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.13 by $0.02. General Electric had a net margin of 11.48% and a return on equity of 18.93%. The company had revenue of $9.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.02 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.82 EPS. The company's revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that General Electric will post 4.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, September 26th were paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, September 26th. General Electric's payout ratio is 19.68%.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Russell Stokes sold 15,550 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.29, for a total value of $2,772,409.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 148,857 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,539,714.53. The trade was a 9.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Riccardo Procacci sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.13, for a total value of $1,267,910.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,289 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,407,036.57. The trade was a 34.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.66% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Electric

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of General Electric by 2.1% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 43,322,827 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $8,181,801,000 after purchasing an additional 898,296 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in General Electric by 0.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 22,587,961 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $4,244,676,000 after purchasing an additional 156,272 shares in the last quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC acquired a new stake in General Electric in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,613,332,000. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in General Electric by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,405,731 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,336,257,000 after buying an additional 459,201 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of General Electric by 91.8% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 7,771,759 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,465,598,000 after buying an additional 3,719,894 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 74.77% of the company's stock.

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.