General Electric (NYSE:GE) Trading 0.3% Higher - Time to Buy?

Shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report) rose 0.3% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $173.58 and last traded at $172.85. Approximately 4,527,662 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 6% from the average daily volume of 4,825,919 shares. The stock had previously closed at $172.31.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on GE. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of General Electric from $198.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Northcoast Research started coverage on General Electric in a report on Tuesday. They set a "neutral" rating on the stock. UBS Group lifted their price objective on General Electric from $223.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Melius Research increased their target price on General Electric from $194.00 to $202.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on General Electric from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, General Electric currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $201.47.

General Electric Trading Up 0.3 %

The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $174.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $173.28. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $187.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.19.

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 the consensus estimate 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%. General Electric's quarterly revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.82 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that General Electric will post 4.24 EPS for the current year.

General Electric Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. General Electric's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 19.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, SVP Riccardo Procacci sold 7,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $181.13, for a total transaction of $1,267,910.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 13,289 shares in the company, valued at $2,407,036.57. This trade represents a 34.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, SVP Russell Stokes sold 15,550 shares of General Electric stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 148,857 shares in the company, valued at $26,539,714.53. This trade 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 owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of General Electric

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of General Electric by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 43,322,827 shares of the conglomerate's stock valued at $8,181,801,000 after acquiring an additional 898,296 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of General Electric by 0.7% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Newport Trust Company LLC purchased a new position in shares of General Electric in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,613,332,000. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of General Electric by 5.8% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 8,405,731 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,336,257,000 after purchasing an additional 459,201 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its position 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 valued at $1,465,598,000 after purchasing 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.