Investors Buy High Volume of General Electric Call Options (NYSE:GE)

General Electric (NYSE:GE) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock investors bought 51,374 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 129% compared to the average volume of 22,441 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of General Electric from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 11th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price target on shares of General Electric from $235.00 to $228.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on shares of General Electric from $201.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Northcoast Research assumed coverage on shares of General Electric in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Finally, Melius Research increased their price objective on shares of General Electric from $194.00 to $202.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.47.

General Electric Stock Performance

Shares of GE stock opened at $200.66 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $217.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $174.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $174.59. General Electric has a one year low of $101.16 and a one year high of $207.65.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.05 by $0.27. General Electric had a net margin of 11.48% and a return on equity of 18.93%. As a group, equities analysts predict that General Electric will post 4.23 EPS for the current year.

General Electric Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be paid a dividend of $0.28 per share. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.56%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, December 27th. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio is presently 19.68%.

Insider Transactions at General Electric

In other news, SVP Russell Stokes sold 15,550 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.29, for a total value of $2,772,409.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 148,857 shares in the company, valued at $26,539,714.53. This trade represents a 9.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Riccardo Procacci sold 7,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $1,267,910.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 13,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,407,036.57. The trade was a 34.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of General Electric

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Toth Financial Advisory Corp acquired a new stake in General Electric in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. acquired a new stake in General Electric in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. O Brien Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in General Electric in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Peterson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in General Electric in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in General Electric in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. 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.