Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on GE HealthCare Technologies (NASDAQ:GEHC)

Key Points

• GE HealthCare saw unusually heavy call-option activity: Traders bought 4,463 call options, roughly 74% above the typical daily volume.
• Shares rose to $68.06 in mid-day trading, while the company’s latest quarterly results exceeded expectations with adjusted EPS of $1.13 and revenue of $5.29 billion, up 5.8% year over year.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $78.35; GE HealthCare also increased its quarterly dividend to $0.04 per share.

GE HealthCare Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:GEHC - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading on Monday. Traders bought 4,463 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 74% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,572 call options.

GE HealthCare Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of GEHC traded up $2.31 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $68.06. 1,443,130 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,255,308. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. GE HealthCare Technologies has a fifty-two week low of $58.75 and a fifty-two week high of $89.77. The business's 50 day moving average is $68.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.73.

GE HealthCare Technologies (NASDAQ:GEHC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.04 by $0.09. GE HealthCare Technologies had a return on equity of 20.12% and a net margin of 9.33%. The firm had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $5.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.06 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that GE HealthCare Technologies will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current year.

GE HealthCare Technologies Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Stockholders of record on Friday, October 23rd will be issued a $0.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, October 23rd. This is an increase from GE HealthCare Technologies's previous quarterly dividend of $0.0350. This represents a $0.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.2%. GE HealthCare Technologies's dividend payout ratio is presently 3.21%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On GE HealthCare Technologies

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GEHC. MV Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of GE HealthCare Technologies during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. NBH Bank purchased a new stake in GE HealthCare Technologies in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. MidFirst Bank purchased a new stake in GE HealthCare Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in GE HealthCare Technologies by 60.4% in the 1st quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 433 shares of the company's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 163 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Reflection Asset Management acquired a new stake in GE HealthCare Technologies during the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. 82.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on GEHC shares. Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $84.00 target price on shares of GE HealthCare Technologies in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Zacks Research upgraded GE HealthCare Technologies from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of GE HealthCare Technologies in a research report on Monday, October 5th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on GE HealthCare Technologies from $67.00 to $73.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued a "buy" rating on shares of GE HealthCare Technologies in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $78.35.

About GE HealthCare Technologies

GE HealthCare Technologies Inc is a global medical technology and healthcare services company that develops, manufactures and supports products used by hospitals, clinicians and researchers. Its offerings are designed to assist with disease detection, diagnosis, treatment, patient monitoring and clinical workflow management.

The company's portfolio includes computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, X-ray and molecular imaging systems; ultrasound equipment; patient monitoring and anesthesia delivery technologies; and pharmaceutical diagnostics, including contrast agents used in medical imaging.

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