General Electric (NYSE:GE) Trading 0.6% Higher - Time to Buy?

General Electric (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report)'s share price was up 0.6% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $183.67 and last traded at $183.64. Approximately 1,045,571 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 5,841,966 shares. The stock had previously closed at $182.45.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on GE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on General Electric from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of General Electric in a research report on Tuesday, February 18th. They set a "buy" rating and a $250.00 price objective for the company. Northcoast Research upgraded General Electric from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $205.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of General Electric in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on General Electric from $235.00 to $227.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $213.33.

General Electric Stock Down 2.0 %

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $196.12 and a 200 day simple moving average of $186.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market cap of $191.28 billion, a PE ratio of 29.75, a P/E/G ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.04.

General Electric (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.27. General Electric had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 22.19%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that General Electric will post 5.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Investors of record on Monday, March 10th will be issued a $0.36 dividend. This is a positive change from General Electric's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.81%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. General Electric's payout ratio is 24.04%.

Institutional Trading of General Electric

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of General Electric by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 89,815,318 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $14,980,297,000 after purchasing an additional 410,172 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC increased its position in General Electric by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 66,823,968 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $11,145,570,000 after buying an additional 965,012 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of General Electric by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 23,117,418 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $3,846,587,000 after acquiring an additional 529,457 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in General Electric during the fourth quarter worth $2,375,439,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in General Electric by 5.8% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,046,867 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,675,717,000 after purchasing an additional 553,104 shares during the last quarter. 74.77% of the stock is currently 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.