Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on General Electric (NYSE:GE)

General Electric (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Friday. Investors bought 49,874 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 62% compared to the typical daily volume of 30,814 call options.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other General Electric news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 13,601 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total transaction of $1,843,615.55. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,339 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,552,351.45. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 13,601 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $135.55, for a total transaction of $1,843,615.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 48,339 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,552,351.45. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Michael J. Holston sold 22,055 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 56,284 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,153,863.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 0.66% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GE. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in General Electric by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 88,444,222 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $11,288,136,000 after acquiring an additional 550,996 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of General Electric by 17.3% during 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 last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of General Electric by 122,242.2% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,438,063 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $878,644,000 after purchasing an additional 13,427,079 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of General Electric by 4.0% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 10,588,433 shares of the conglomerate's stock worth $1,170,551,000 after purchasing an additional 410,061 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of General Electric during the fourth quarter worth about $1,193,159,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.77% of the company's stock.

General Electric Stock Performance

GE stock traded down $4.85 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $148.09. 9,564,571 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,004,441. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.69, a current ratio of 1.18 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $159.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $134.10. General Electric has a one year low of $76.87 and a one year high of $158.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $161.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 1.29.

General Electric (NYSE:GE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.13. General Electric had a return on equity of 10.88% and a net margin of 13.95%. The company had revenue of $19.42 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.24 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 15.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that General Electric will post 3.78 EPS for the current year.

General Electric Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 represents a $1.12 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.76%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, April 12th. This is an increase from General Electric's previous quarterly dividend of $0.08. General Electric's payout ratio is 13.38%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on GE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of General Electric from $180.00 to $148.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. TD Cowen raised shares of 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 research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of General Electric from $175.00 to $165.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of General Electric in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $190.00 target price for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of General Electric from $180.00 to $160.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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.