General Electric (NYSE:GE) Price Target Raised to $175.00 at Royal Bank of Canada

General Electric (NYSE:GE) had its price objective hoisted by Royal Bank of Canada from $165.00 to $175.00 in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has an outperform rating on the conglomerate’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of General Electric from $195.00 to $180.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Oppenheimer reissued a market perform rating on shares of General Electric in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. TheStreet raised shares of General Electric from a c+ rating to a b+ rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. TD Cowen raised shares of General Electric from a hold rating to a buy rating and lifted their price target for the company from $175.00 to $180.00 in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Vertical Research started coverage on shares of General Electric in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. They issued a buy rating and a $160.00 price target on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $167.29.

General Electric Price Performance

NYSE GE opened at $159.19 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $174.04 billion, a PE ratio of 52.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $160.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $135.55. General Electric has a 12-month low of $76.87 and a 12-month high of $163.65.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.65 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $16.10 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.25 billion. General Electric had a net margin of 5.05% and a return on equity of 12.54%. The company’s revenue was up 11.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.27 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that General Electric will post 3.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. This is a boost from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.70%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is 36.72%.

Insider Activity

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Electric

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Halpern Financial Inc. boosted its position in General Electric by 968.4% during the 4th quarter. Halpern Financial Inc. now owns 203 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 184 shares during the last quarter. Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in General Electric during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. CGC Financial Services LLC boosted its position in General Electric by 90.2% during the 4th quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 232 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Capital Analysts LLC boosted its position in General Electric by 55.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 243 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bfsg LLC acquired a new position in General Electric during the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.