General Electric (NYSE:GE) Price Target Increased to $180.00 by Analysts at Argus

General Electric (NYSE:GE) had its target price lifted by Argus from $170.00 to $180.00 in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the conglomerate’s stock.

GE has been the subject of a number of other reports. TD Cowen upgraded General Electric from a hold rating to a buy rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $175.00 to $180.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Bank of America increased their price target on General Electric from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com assumed coverage on General Electric in a report on Sunday. They issued a hold rating for the company. Barclays lowered their price target on General Electric from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on General Electric from $180.00 to $148.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $167.29.

General Electric Trading Down 2.1 %

GE stock opened at $159.19 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $174.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.02, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $160.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $135.55. General Electric has a 52 week low of $76.87 and a 52 week high of $163.65.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.25 billion. General Electric had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 13.95%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.27 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that General Electric will post 3.76 EPS for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. This is a boost from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.70%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 13.38%.

Insider Transactions at General Electric

In other news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 13,601 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total transaction of $1,843,615.55. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 48,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,552,351.45. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other General Electric news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 13,601 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total value of $1,843,615.55. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 48,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,552,351.45. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.87, for a total transaction of $3,195,107.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 56,284 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,153,863.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Electric

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of GE. Halpern Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of General Electric by 968.4% in the fourth quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. now owns 203 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Electric in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. CGC Financial Services LLC increased its stake in shares of General Electric by 90.2% in the fourth quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 232 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. Capital Analysts LLC increased its stake in shares of General Electric by 55.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 243 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of General Electric in the first quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Institutional investors own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

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.