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

General Electric (NYSE:GE) saw unusually large options trading on Friday. Traders acquired 49,874 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 62% compared to the typical volume of 30,814 call options.

Insider Transactions at General Electric

In other General Electric news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.87, for a total value of $3,195,107.85. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president now owns 56,284 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,153,863.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 13,601 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total value of $1,843,615.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 48,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,552,351.45. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.87, for a total transaction of $3,195,107.85. Following the sale, the senior vice president now owns 56,284 shares in the company, valued at $8,153,863.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On General Electric

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of General Electric by 122,242.2% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,438,063 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $878,644,000 after buying an additional 13,427,079 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in General Electric during the fourth quarter worth $1,193,159,000. State Street Corp grew its holdings in General Electric by 17.3% in the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 48,490,012 shares of the conglomerate’s stock worth $4,639,533,000 after purchasing an additional 7,157,356 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in General Electric in the fourth quarter valued at $520,488,000. Finally, Brown Advisory Inc. increased its stake in General Electric by 265.7% in the third quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 3,008,425 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $332,581,000 after purchasing an additional 2,185,793 shares in the last quarter. 74.77% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

General Electric Trading Down 2.4 %

Shares of GE stock traded down $3.60 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $149.34. 6,183,373 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,958,170. The stock has a market cap of $163.27 billion, a PE ratio of 18.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.29. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $159.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $134.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69. General Electric has a 12 month low of $76.87 and a 12 month high of $158.68.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $19.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.27 billion. General Electric had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 13.95%. General Electric’s quarterly revenue was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.24 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that General Electric will post 3.78 EPS for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 25th. Investors of record on Monday, April 15th will be paid a $0.28 dividend. This is a positive change from General Electric’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. This represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, April 12th. General Electric’s payout ratio is currently 13.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on GE shares. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of General Electric in a research report on Saturday, April 13th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. TD Cowen raised General Electric from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $175.00 to $180.00 in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Barclays lowered their price target on General Electric from $181.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on General Electric from $200.00 to $165.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on General Electric from $195.00 to $180.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, General Electric currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $160.07.

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.