Investors Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on General Electric (NYSE:GE)

General Electric (NYSE:GE) saw unusually large options trading on Thursday. Traders acquired 51,374 call options on the company. This is an increase of 129% compared to the average daily volume of 22,441 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on GE shares. Bank of America raised their price target on General Electric from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on General Electric from $201.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on General Electric from $223.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Northcoast Research assumed coverage on General Electric in a report on Tuesday, January 7th. They set a “neutral” rating for the company. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on General Electric from $198.00 to $216.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, General Electric currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $201.47.

General Electric Trading Up 7.1 %

General Electric stock traded up $13.43 during trading on Thursday, hitting $201.79. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,641,203 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,920,836. The stock has a market capitalization of $218.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.46, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.19. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $174.49 and its 200 day moving average is $174.59. General Electric has a 1-year low of $101.16 and a 1-year high of $207.65. 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 earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.32 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.05 by $0.27. General Electric had a return on equity of 18.93% and a net margin of 11.48%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that General Electric will post 4.23 EPS for the current year.

General Electric Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 value of $2,772,409.50. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 148,857 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,539,714.53. This trade represents a 9.46 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Riccardo Procacci sold 7,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were 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 directly owns 13,289 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,407,036.57. This represents a 34.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.66% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Electric

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in General Electric by 117.7% during the third quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 270 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in General Electric by 10.5% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 603,988 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $96,016,000 after acquiring an additional 57,372 shares during the period. Johnson & White Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in General Electric during the fourth quarter valued at about $733,000. State Street Corp grew its position in General Electric by 2.1% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 43,322,827 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $8,181,801,000 after acquiring an additional 898,296 shares during the period. Finally, Soltis Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in General Electric by 269.8% during the third quarter. Soltis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 28,201 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $5,318,000 after acquiring an additional 20,575 shares during the period. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.