Stock Traders Show Interest in General Electric Call Options

On Tuesday, General Electric (NYSE:GE – Get Free Report) experienced a significant increase in options trading. Traders purchased an impressive total of 110,475 call options for the company. This figure represents a remarkable rise of roughly 357% compared to the usual volume of around 24,173 call options.

Analysts Update Price Targets

Recently, various research firms have updated their outlook on General Electric. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target for the stock from $192.00 to $205.00, maintaining an “overweight” rating on July 24th. Citigroup also adjusted their price target upward, from $198.00 to $216.00, and assigned a “buy” rating on October 10th. Meanwhile, Deutsche Bank increased its target from $212.00 to $235.00 with a buy rating on October 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised its price target from $185.00 to $190.00 and issued a buy rating on June 28th. However, StockNews.com lowered its rating on GE from “buy” to “hold” on July 29th. Overall, two analysts rate the stock as a hold, whereas fourteen have assigned it a buy rating. According to MarketBeat.com, GE currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” with a consensus price target of $198.53.

General Electric's Stock Performance

On Wednesday, General Electric's shares opened at $176.59. The company has a market capitalization of $193.30 billion, a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 57.90, and a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86, with a beta value of 1.18. The fifty-day simple moving average stands at $179.24, while the two-hundred-day average is $168.05. GE's stock has seen a twelve-month low of $84.58 and a high of $194.80. Its current ratio is 1.14, the quick ratio is 0.85, and the debt-to-equity ratio is 0.95.

General Electric recently released its quarterly earnings on July 23rd. The company reported earnings of $1.20 per share (EPS) for the quarter, which surpassed analysts' expectations of $0.99 by $0.21. The revenue for the quarter amounted to $9.09 billion, exceeding the forecast of $8.44 billion. GE's net margin was recorded at 7.66%, with a return on equity of 16.07%. The year-over-year revenue growth for the quarter was 3.9%, with the previous year's earnings at $0.68 EPS. Analysts project that General Electric will achieve an EPS of 4.2 for the current fiscal year.

Dividend Announcement from General Electric

General Electric also announced a quarterly dividend that is set to be distributed on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders on record as of Thursday, September 26th, will receive a dividend of $0.28 per share, with an ex-dividend date also on September 26th. This equates to an annualized dividend of $1.12, resulting in a dividend yield of 0.63%. The current dividend payout ratio stands at 36.72%.

Institutional Investment Activities

Several institutional investors have recently made significant transactions regarding General Electric shares. Newport Trust Company LLC acquired a new stake in GE, investing approximately $2.61 billion during the second quarter. Capital World Investors significantly increased its stake by 2,818.1% in the first quarter, currently holding 12,749,560 shares valued at about $2.24 billion after acquiring an additional 12,312,648 shares. Similarly, Capital International Investors grew its stake by 9.9% in the same quarter and now holds 59,100,643 shares worth around $10.37 billion after adding 5,309,543 shares. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its holdings in GE by 221.6%, owning 7,121,741 shares valued at roughly $1.25 billion. Additionally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA has invested about $580.2 million in a new stake during the second quarter. Currently, institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.77% of General Electric stock.

Company Overview

General Electric Company operates primarily through its GE Aerospace division, which designs and manufactures commercial and defense aircraft engines, along with related systems and components. The company also provides aftermarket services to support its product offerings and has operations spanning the United States, Europe, China, Asia, the Americas, the Middle East, and Africa.

General, Electric, Trading