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

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

Insider Transactions at General Electric

In related news, SVP Riccardo Procacci sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were 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 approximately $2,407,036.57. The trade was a 34.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Russell Stokes sold 15,550 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $178.29, for a total transaction of $2,772,409.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 148,857 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Company insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of General Electric

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Calamos Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in General Electric by 29.5% during the fourth quarter. Calamos Wealth Management LLC now owns 16,089 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,683,000 after buying an additional 3,663 shares in the last quarter. Fourpath Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of General Electric by 54.0% during the 4th quarter. Fourpath Capital Management LLC now owns 12,093 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $2,017,000 after acquiring an additional 4,242 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its position in General Electric by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 5,739 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $957,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the period. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in General Electric in the 4th quarter valued at $92,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its position in General Electric by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 7,878,650 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,314,080,000 after purchasing an additional 106,891 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GE has been the subject of several research reports. 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. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft decreased their price objective 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of General Electric from $190.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of General Electric from $225.00 to $250.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Melius Research raised their price objective on shares of General Electric from $194.00 to $202.00 in a research note 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 MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $205.80.

General Electric Trading Down 2.0 %

NYSE GE opened at $196.81 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $174.93 and a 200-day moving average of $174.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.13 and a quick ratio of 0.85. General Electric has a 12 month low of $103.75 and a 12 month high of $207.65. The company has a market cap of $213.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.59, a P/E/G ratio of 1.53 and a beta of 1.19.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.32 earnings per share 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 earnings per share for the current year.

General Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, January 27th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 27th will be issued a $0.28 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, December 27th. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.57%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.