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

GE HealthCare Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:GEHC) was the target of some unusual options trading on Monday. Traders bought 4,463 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 74% compared to the average volume of 2,572 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on GEHC. Piper Sandler reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of GE HealthCare Technologies in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. BTIG Research reduced their target price on shares of GE HealthCare Technologies from $79.00 to $75.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of GE HealthCare Technologies in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $70.00 price target on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of GE HealthCare Technologies from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of GE HealthCare Technologies in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.35.

GE HealthCare Technologies Trading Up 3.5%

GE HealthCare Technologies stock traded up $2.31 during trading on Monday, hitting $68.06. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,443,130 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,255,308. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $68.68 and its 200 day moving average is $66.83. GE HealthCare Technologies has a 1-year low of $58.75 and a 1-year high of $89.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $30.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a current ratio of 1.26.

GE HealthCare Technologies (NASDAQ:GEHC) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.04 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $5.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.26 billion. GE HealthCare Technologies had a return on equity of 20.12% and a net margin of 9.33%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.06 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that GE HealthCare Technologies will post 4.93 EPS 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. Investors of record on Friday, October 23rd will be issued a $0.04 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, October 23rd. This is a positive change from GE HealthCare Technologies’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.0350. This represents a $0.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.2%. GE HealthCare Technologies’s payout ratio is presently 3.21%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On GE HealthCare Technologies

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wedmont Private Capital increased its holdings in shares of GE HealthCare Technologies by 80.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 7,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $485,000 after buying an additional 3,362 shares during the last quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in GE HealthCare Technologies by 137.9% in the third quarter. Acropolis Investment Management LLC now owns 3,939 shares of the company’s stock valued at $257,000 after acquiring an additional 2,283 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in GE HealthCare Technologies by 30.0% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 12,961 shares of the company’s stock valued at $847,000 after acquiring an additional 2,990 shares during the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in GE HealthCare Technologies by 26.2% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 10,788 shares of the company’s stock valued at $705,000 after acquiring an additional 2,243 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in GE HealthCare Technologies by 3.5% during the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $317,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.06% of the company’s stock.

GE HealthCare Technologies Company Profile

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.