GE HealthCare Technologies Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:GEHC)

GE HealthCare Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:GEHC) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Investors acquired 4,463 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 74% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,572 call options.

GE HealthCare Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of GE HealthCare Technologies stock opened at $69.44 on Wednesday. GE HealthCare Technologies has a 12 month low of $58.75 and a 12 month high of $89.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $31.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.93, a P/E/G ratio of 1.79 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a current ratio of 1.26, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $68.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $66.79.

GE HealthCare Technologies (NASDAQ:GEHC) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.09. GE HealthCare Technologies had a net margin of 9.33% and a return on equity of 20.12%. The firm had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.06 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 5.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that GE HealthCare Technologies will post 4.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

GE HealthCare Technologies Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 13th. Shareholders of record on Friday, October 23rd will be issued a $0.04 dividend. This represents a $0.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. This is a boost from GE HealthCare Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.0350. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 23rd. GE HealthCare Technologies’s dividend payout ratio is currently 3.21%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On GE HealthCare Technologies

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in GEHC. Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its stake in GE HealthCare Technologies by 9,525.4% during the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 33,982,610 shares of the company’s stock worth $278,725,000 after acquiring an additional 33,629,559 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of GE HealthCare Technologies by 1.6% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 20,861,566 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,335,349,000 after purchasing an additional 323,090 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its position in shares of GE HealthCare Technologies by 13.2% in the second quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 13,455,814 shares of the company’s stock worth $861,307,000 after purchasing an additional 1,571,226 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of GE HealthCare Technologies by 2.0% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,399,439 shares of the company’s stock worth $384,219,000 after purchasing an additional 105,995 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in shares of GE HealthCare Technologies by 4.1% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 4,482,631 shares of the company’s stock worth $286,933,000 after purchasing an additional 177,028 shares in the last quarter. 82.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays upgraded shares of GE HealthCare Technologies to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 7th. BTIG Research lowered their price objective on shares of GE HealthCare Technologies from $79.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $84.00 price objective on shares of GE HealthCare Technologies in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on GE HealthCare Technologies from $75.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $93.00 target price on shares of GE HealthCare Technologies in a report on Monday, October 5th. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.