Stock Traders Purchase Large Volume of General Electric Call Options (NYSE:GE)

General Electric (NYSE:GE) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders acquired 110,475 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 357% compared to the typical volume of 24,173 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GE. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of General Electric from $192.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of General Electric from $198.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on shares of General Electric from $212.00 to $235.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of General Electric from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of General Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $198.53.

General Electric Price Performance

General Electric stock opened at $176.59 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $193.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $179.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $168.05. General Electric has a 12-month low of $84.58 and a 12-month high of $194.80. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.20 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $9.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.44 billion. General Electric had a net margin of 7.66% and a return on equity of 16.07%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.68 EPS. Equities analysts expect that General Electric will post 4.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

General Electric Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, October 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, September 26th will be given a dividend of $0.28 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, September 26th. This represents a $1.12 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.63%. General Electric’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 36.72%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Electric

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GE. Newport Trust Company LLC acquired a new stake in General Electric during the 2nd quarter worth $2,613,332,000. Capital World Investors raised its stake in General Electric by 2,818.1% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,749,560 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $2,237,930,000 after acquiring an additional 12,312,648 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors raised its stake in General Electric by 9.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 59,100,643 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $10,373,936,000 after acquiring an additional 5,309,543 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its stake in General Electric by 221.6% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 7,121,741 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $1,250,079,000 after acquiring an additional 4,907,530 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA acquired a new stake in General Electric during the 2nd quarter worth $580,200,000. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.