General Electric Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:GE)

General Electric (NYSE:GE) saw some unusual options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors acquired 110,475 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 357% compared to the typical daily volume of 24,173 call options.

General Electric Trading Down 8.6 %

Shares of NYSE GE traded down $16.74 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $177.49. The stock had a trading volume of 11,188,697 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,348,739. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $179.06 and its 200 day simple moving average is $167.91. The firm has a market cap of $194.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.86 and a beta of 1.18. General Electric has a fifty-two week low of $84.58 and a fifty-two week high of $194.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

General Electric (NYSE:GE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 23rd. The conglomerate reported $1.20 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.99 by $0.21. General Electric had a net margin of 7.66% and a return on equity of 16.07%. The firm had revenue of $9.09 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.44 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.68 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that General Electric will post 4.2 EPS for the current year.

General Electric Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price objective on General Electric from $201.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. StockNews.com lowered General Electric from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, July 29th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of General Electric from $175.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Melius Research increased their target price on General Electric from $194.00 to $202.00 in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of General Electric from $198.00 to $216.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $198.53.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GE. Studio Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of General Electric by 97.5% in the 2nd quarter. Studio Investment Management LLC now owns 158 shares of the conglomerate’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares in the last quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp bought a new position in shares of General Electric during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. MFA Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in General Electric in the second quarter worth $31,000. Financial Connections Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of General Electric in the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new position in shares of General Electric during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.77% of the company’s stock.

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.