General Electric (NYSE:GE) Stock Price Up 1.1% After Dividend Announcement

General Electric (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report) shot up 1.1% during trading on Monday after the company announced a dividend. The company traded as high as $169.20 and last traded at $167.80. 1,238,473 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 6,110,157 shares. The stock had previously closed at $166.01.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Monday, January 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.68%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. General Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of General Electric from $198.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of General Electric from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their target price on General Electric from $212.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on General Electric from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, General Electric has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $201.93.

General Electric Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $179.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.14, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.17. 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 company's 50-day moving average is $179.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $172.52.

General Electric (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $9.84 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.02 billion. General Electric had a net margin of 11.48% and a return on equity of 18.93%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.82 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that General Electric will post 4.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at General Electric

In other General Electric news, SVP Riccardo Procacci sold 7,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,289 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,407,036.57. This represents a 34.50 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Russell Stokes sold 15,550 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were 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 owns 148,857 shares of the company's stock, valued at $26,539,714.53. This represents a 9.46 % 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 insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Electric

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GE. Newport Trust Company LLC acquired a new position in shares of General Electric in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,613,332,000. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in General Electric by 91.8% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 7,771,759 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $1,465,598,000 after buying an additional 3,719,894 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new stake in General Electric during the 2nd quarter worth about $580,200,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of General Electric by 21,069.8% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 3,173,142 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $598,391,000 after acquiring an additional 3,158,153 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wulff Hansen & CO. boosted its position in shares of General Electric by 18,693.9% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 1,614,022 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $256,581,000 after purchasing an additional 1,605,434 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.