General Electric (NYSE:GE) Shares Gap Up Following Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday after the company announced better than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $178.35, but opened at $186.50. General Electric shares last traded at $183.40, with a volume of 1,415,873 shares trading hands.

The conglomerate reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by $0.20. General Electric had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 22.19%. The firm had revenue of $9.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.06 billion.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, April 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 10th. This is an increase from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.76%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 24.04%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on GE shares. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on General Electric from $203.00 to $212.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of General Electric in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $250.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of General Electric from $235.00 to $227.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on General Electric from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on General Electric from $215.00 to $235.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $213.33.

Institutional Trading of General Electric

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in General Electric by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 89,815,318 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $14,980,297,000 after purchasing an additional 410,172 shares during the period. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Electric by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 66,823,968 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $11,145,570,000 after acquiring an additional 965,012 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of General Electric by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 23,117,418 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $3,846,587,000 after acquiring an additional 529,457 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of General Electric during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,375,439,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in General Electric by 5.8% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,046,867 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,675,717,000 after acquiring an additional 553,104 shares during the period. 74.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

General Electric Trading Up 6.2 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 1.09 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $195.11 and its 200 day simple moving average is $186.48. The stock has a market cap of $203.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.63, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.04.

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.