Citigroup Boosts General Electric (NYSE:GE) Price Target to $186.00

General Electric (NYSE:GE) had its target price lifted by Citigroup from $120.43 to $186.00 in a research note released on Thursday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the conglomerate’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently commented on GE. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on General Electric from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on General Electric from $210.00 to $190.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on General Electric from $190.00 to $211.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. Vertical Research assumed coverage on General Electric in a report on Thursday, April 4th. They set a buy rating and a $160.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on General Electric from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, General Electric presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $170.00.

General Electric Price Performance

General Electric stock opened at $162.35 on Thursday. General Electric has a 12 month low of $77.28 and a 12 month high of $163.65. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $160.72 and its 200-day moving average is $136.43. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.63. The company has a market capitalization of $177.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.23, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.29.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, April 23rd. The conglomerate reported $0.82 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.65 by $0.17. General Electric had a return on equity of 12.54% and a net margin of 5.05%. The company had revenue of $16.10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.25 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.27 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that General Electric will post 3.93 EPS for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 15th were given a $0.28 dividend. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.69%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 12th. This is a boost from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. General Electric’s payout ratio is currently 36.72%.

Insider Buying and Selling at General Electric

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GE. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of General Electric during the fourth quarter worth about $1,193,159,000. WCM Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Electric during the fourth quarter worth about $520,488,000. Brown Advisory Inc. grew its holdings in shares of General Electric by 265.7% during the third quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 3,008,425 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $332,581,000 after purchasing an additional 2,185,793 shares during the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of General Electric during the fourth quarter worth about $268,519,000. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Electric by 11,947.8% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,576,570 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $201,218,000 after purchasing an additional 1,563,484 shares during the last quarter. 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.