General Electric (NYSE:GE) Short Interest Update

General Electric (NYSE:GE) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 11,860,000 shares, a growth of 5.5% from the November 30th total of 11,240,000 shares. Currently, 1.1% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 4,710,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on GE. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of General Electric from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on shares of General Electric from $212.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on General Electric from $201.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on General Electric from $210.00 to $200.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on General Electric from $198.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.93.

Insider Activity at General Electric

In other General Electric news, SVP Riccardo Procacci sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,289 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,407,036.57. The trade was a 34.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Russell Stokes sold 15,550 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $178.29, for a total transaction of $2,772,409.50. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 148,857 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Electric

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Studio Investment Management LLC boosted its position in General Electric by 97.5% during the 2nd quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 158 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Toth Financial Advisory Corp bought a new position in shares of General Electric in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. acquired a new position in shares of General Electric during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in General Electric during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of General Electric during the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

General Electric Stock Down 0.8 %

NYSE:GE opened at $166.79 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $174.81 and a 200 day simple moving average of $173.03. General Electric has a one year low of $98.92 and a one year high of $194.80. The company has a market capitalization of $180.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.13.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 22nd. The conglomerate reported $1.15 EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $9.02 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.82 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that General Electric will post 4.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 27th. Investors of record on Friday, December 27th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.67%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is currently 19.68%.

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.