General Electric (NYSE:GE) Shares Up 0.9% - Should You Buy?

General Electric (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded up 0.9% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $167.87 and last traded at $166.27. 1,101,650 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 6,114,160 shares. The stock had previously closed at $164.83.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of General Electric from $223.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of General Electric from $201.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, October 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of General Electric from $212.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Citigroup lifted their target price on General Electric from $198.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on General Electric from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, General Electric currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $201.93.

General Electric Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $179.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $180.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $172.42.

General Electric (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.15 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $9.84 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.82 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that General Electric will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Electric

In other news, SVP Russell Stokes sold 15,550 shares of General Electric 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 148,857 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,539,714.53. This trade represents a 9.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Riccardo Procacci sold 7,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $181.13, for a total value of $1,267,910.00. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,289 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,407,036.57. This represents a 34.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.66% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Studio Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in General Electric by 97.5% in the second quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 158 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Toth Financial Advisory Corp bought a new stake in shares of General Electric during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. bought a new position in General Electric in the third quarter worth $25,000. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in General Electric during the third quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of General Electric during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

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