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

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

General Electric Stock Performance

Shares of General Electric stock traded up $13.43 on Thursday, reaching $201.79. 7,641,203 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,920,836. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 1.13. The company’s 50-day moving average is $174.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $174.59. The firm has a market cap 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. General Electric has a 1-year low of $101.16 and a 1-year high of $207.65.

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, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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, research analysts expect that General Electric will post 4.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Announces Dividend

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

Insider Transactions at General Electric

In other news, SVP Riccardo Procacci sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was 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 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, SVP Russell Stokes sold 15,550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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. The trade was a 9.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On General Electric

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GE. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its holdings in General Electric by 74.9% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 42,186 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $6,706,000 after buying an additional 18,064 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in General Electric by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 6,636 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $1,055,000 after purchasing an additional 129 shares in the last quarter. Royal Capital Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in General Electric by 115.4% during the 2nd quarter. Royal Capital Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,270 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $520,000 after purchasing an additional 1,752 shares in the last quarter. Wescott Financial Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in General Electric during the 2nd quarter valued at $622,000. Finally, Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI boosted its stake in General Electric by 9.3% during the 2nd quarter. Zurich Insurance Group Ltd FI now owns 764,018 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $121,456,000 after purchasing an additional 65,189 shares in the last quarter. 74.77% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America increased 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on General Electric from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 11th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on General Electric from $201.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Melius Research increased their price target on General Electric from $194.00 to $202.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on General Electric from $223.00 to $230.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, General Electric currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $201.47.

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.