GE (GE), Morgan Stanley (MS) Up, Intel (INTC), American Express (AXP) Down

As earnings season continues on, the unfolding story is one of a mixed bag, as companies in the same industry perform well while others report a weak quarter.

For example, Morgan Stanley (MS) had a strong quarter while American Express (AXP) struggled. Morgan Stanley performed well because a number of companies sought its assistance with mergers, as well as to help them raise capital.

For American Express, cost-cutting measures and reorganization were the probably culprits for its poor performance, where it had to take significant charges. Even so, revenue also failed to meet expectations, causing investors to punish them after the weak report.

Another financial, Capital One (COF), got hammered after it failed to meet revenue and earnings estimates, falling by almost 8 percent, losing $4.74. The company also significantly lowered its outlook going forward.

Intel continues to flounder as it looks for ways to combat the quick abandonment of desktop and laptop computers for tablets and smartphones. As a result, the net income of the company in the latest quarter plummeted 27 percent.

For General Electric, it reported solid earnings for the quarter, with all of its industrial units boosting profits. That was led by a growing number of orders from developing nations.

Lamar (LAMR) (GDOT) (GE) (GIB) (DXCM) (EMR) Ratings, Price Targets

Lamar Advertising Company (NASDAQ: LAMR), Green Dot (NASDAQ: GDOT), General Electric (NYSE: GE), CGI Group (NYSE: GIB), DexCom (NASDAQ: DXCM) and Emerson Electric (NYSE: EMR) ratings and price targets.
Green Dot (GDOT) had its “Buy” rating reiterated by Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS).

General Electric (GE) had its “Buy” rating reiterated by Goldman Sachs.

CGI Group (GIB) had its “Neutral” rating reiterated by Goldman Sachs.

DexCom (DXCM) was downgraded by McNicoll Lewis & Vlak to a “Hold” rating.

Emerson Electric (EMR) was downgraded by Goldman Sachs from a “Buy” rating to a “Neutral” rating.

Lamar Advertising Company (LAMR) was upgraded by UBS AG (NYSE:UBS) from a “Sell” rating to a “Neutral” rating.

AK Steel (AKS) (BXP) (GE) (AVGO) (BBT) (BLL) Ratings, Price Targets

AK Steel Holding Co. (NYSE: AKS), Boston Properties (NYSE: BXP), General Electric (NYSE: GE), Avago Technologies (NASDAQ: AVGO), BB&T (NYSE: BBT) and Ball Co. (NYSE: BLL) ratings and price targets.

AK Steel Holding Co. (AKS) was upgraded by Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS) from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating.

Boston Properties (BXP) was downgraded by RBC Capital from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating.

General Electric (GE) had its price target raised by Barclays Capital (NYSE:BCS) from $20.00 to $22.00. They have an “overweight” rating on the company.

Avago Technologies (AVGO) had its “buy” rating reiterated by analysts at Jefferies Group (NYSE:JEF). They have a price target of $41.00 on the company.

BB&T (BBT) had its “neutral” rating reiterated by Zacks Investment Research. They have a price target of $28.00 on the company.

Ball Co. (BLL) had its “neutral” rating reiterated by Goldman Sachs.

Denbury (DNR) (FWRD) (GE) (HITK) (SONC) (BOH) Ratings, Price Targets

Denbury Resources Inc. (NYSE: DNR), Forward Air (NASDAQ: FWRD), General Electric (NYSE: GE), Hi-Tech Pharma (NASDAQ: HITK), Sonic Co. (NASDAQ: SONC) and Bank of Hawaii Co. (NYSE: BOH) ratings and price targets.

Denbury Resources Inc. (DNR) was upgraded by Raymond James (NYSE:RJF) from an “outperform” rating to a “strong buy” rating.

Forward Air (FWRD) is now covered by Stephens. They have an “overweight” rating on the firm.

General Electric (GE) is now covered by Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS). They have an “overweight” rating on the firm.

Hi-Tech Pharma (HITK) is now covered by Canaccord Genuity. They have a “buy” rating and a price target of $45.00 on the firm.

Sonic Co. (SONC) had its price target lowered by RBC Capital from $11.00 to $9.00. They have an “outperform” rating on the firm.

Bank of Hawaii Co. (BOH) was downgraded by Stifel Nicolaus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating.

FMC Tech (FTI) (GE) (GEOI) (LLL) (FRAN) Price Targets Changed

FMC Tech (NYSE: FTI), General Electric (NYSE: GE), GeoResources, Inc. (NASDAQ: GEOI), L-3 Communications (NYSE: LLL) and Francesca’s (NASDAQ: FRAN) had price targets on them adjusted by analysts.

FMC Tech (FTI) had its price target raised by Howard Weil from $48.00 to $50.00. They have a “Market Perform” rating on the company.

General Electric (GE) had its price target lowered by Sterne Agee to $22.75.

GeoResources, Inc. (GEOI) had its price target raised by Sterne Agee to $37.00. They have a “Buy” rating on the company.

L-3 Communications (LLL) had its price target lowered by Morgan Keegan to $70.00. They have a “Market Perform” rating on the company.

Francesca’s (FRAN) had its price target lowered by JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) to $22.00. They have a “Neutral” rating on the company.

Markel (MKL) (MMM) (MRVL) (FRAN) (FTI) (GE) Ratings, Price Targets

Markel Co. (MKL), 3M Company (MMM), Marvell Technology Group (MRVL), Francesca’s (FRAN), FMC Tech (FTI) and General Electric (GE) ratings and price targets.

RBC Capital upgraded Markel Co. (MKL) from a “Sector Perform” rating to an “Outperform” rating.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) reiterated its “Neutral” on 3M Company (MMM). They have a price target of $85.00 on the company.

Craig Hallum upgraded Marvell Technology Group (MRVL) from a “Hold” rating to a “Buy” rating.

Wedbush lowered its price target on Francesca’s (FRAN) to $21.00.

Howard Weil raised its price target on FMC Tech (FTI) from $48.00 to $50.00. They have a “Market Perform” rating on the company.

Sterne Agee lowered its price target on General Electric (GE) to $22.75.

Orbitz (OWW) (CP) (E) (ETR) (GE) (LNKD) Upgraded

Orbitz Worldwide, Inc. (NYSE: OWW), Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (NYSE: CP), Eni S.p.A. (NYSE: E), Entergy Corp. (NYSE: ETR), General Electric (NYSE: GE) and Linkedin Co. (NASDAQ: LNKD) were upgraded by analysts.

Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (CP) was upgraded by Barclays Capital from an “Underweight” rating to an “Equal Weight” rating.

Carter’s, Inc. (CRI) was upgraded by Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS) from a “Neutral” rating to a “Buy” rating. They have a price target of $46.00 on the company.

Eni S.p.A. (E) was upgraded by Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB) from a “Hold” rating to a “Buy” rating.

Entergy Corp. (ETR) was upgraded by Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) to a “Neutral” rating.

General Electric (GE) was upgraded by Sanford C. Bernstein from a “Market Perform” rating to an “Outperform” rating.

Linkedin Co. (LNKD) was upgraded by JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) from a “Neutral” rating to an “Overweight” rating. They have a price target of $84.00 on the company.

Orbitz Worldwide, Inc. (OWW) was upgraded by Benchmark Co. from a “Hold” rating to a “Buy” rating. They have a price target of $5.00 on the company, up from $3.00.

General Electric (GE) (NVR) (OCFC) (OCR) (DOV) (GCO) Price Targets Changed

General Electric (NYSE: GE), NVR, Inc. (NYSE: NVR), OceanFirst Financial Corp., Inc. (NASDAQ: OCFC), Omnicare, Inc. (NYSE: OCR), Dover Co. (NYSE: DOV) and Genesco Inc (NYSE: GCO) had price targets on them adjusted by analysts.

NVR, Inc. (NVR) had its price target lowered by JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) to $890.00.

OceanFirst Financial Corp., Inc. (OCFC) had its price target lowered by Sterne Agee to $14.00.

Omnicare, Inc. (OCR) had its price target lowered by UBS AG (NYSE:UBS) from $31.00 to $29.00. They have a “Neutral” rating on the company.

Dover Co. (DOV) had its price target lowered by Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS) to $65.00. They have a “Neutral” rating on the company.

Genesco Inc. (GCO) had its price target raised by Avondale Partners from $61.00 to $64.00. They have an “Outperform” rating on the company.

General Electric (GE) had its price target lowered by Citigroup (NYSE:C) to $19.00.

General Electric (GE) (JWN) (RNR) (TCLP) Ratings Reiterated

General Electric (NYSE: GE), Nordstrom, Inc. (NYSE: JWN), RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. (NYSE: RNR) and TC PipeLines (NASDAQ: TCLP) had ratings on them reiterated by analysts.

General Electric (GE) had its “Buy” rating reiterated on it by Goldman Sachs (NYSE:GS).

Nordstrom, Inc. (JWN) had its “Overweight” rating reiterated on it by Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS).

RenaissanceRe Holdings Ltd. (RNR) had its “Neutral” rating reiterated on it by Zacks Investment Research. They have a price target of $70.00 on the company.

TC PipeLines (TCLP) had its “Neutral” rating reiterated on it by Zacks Investment Research. They have a price target of $47.00 on the company.

GE (GE) (CAT) (QLIK) (BWLD) (PNRA) (SMG) Ratings Reiterated

General Electric (NYSE: GE), Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT), Qlik Technologies Inc (NASDAQ: QLIK), Buffalo Wild Wings (NASDAQ: BWLD), Panera Bread Company (NASDAQ: PNRA) and Scotts Miracle-Gro (NYSE: SMG) had ratings reiterated by analysts.

Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB) reiterated a "Buy" rating on Buffalo Wild Wings (BWLD).

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE:JPM) reiterated an "Overweight" rating on Caterpillar Inc. (CAT).

Citigroup (NYSE:C) reiterated a "Buy" rating on General Electric (GE).

Sterne Agee reiterated a "Buy" rating on Panera Bread Company (PNRA). They have a price target of $134.00 on the company.

Citigroup reiterated a "Hold" rating on Qlik Technologies Inc (QLIK).

Oppenheimer reiterated a "Market Perform" rating on Scotts Miracle-Gro (SMG).

General Electric (GE) (PNC) (FITB) (TRV) (HON) (RAI) EPS Estimates Changed

General Electric (NYSE: GE), PNC Financial Services (NYSE: PNC), Fifth Third Bancorp (NASDAQ: FITB), The Travelers Companies, Inc. (NYSE: TRV), Honeywell International Inc. (NYSE: HON) and Reynolds American, Inc. (NYSE: RAI) EPS estimates adjusted by analysts.

Citigroup (NYSE:C) raised its EPS estimate on Fifth Third Bancorp (FITB). They have a “Hold” rating and a price target of $14.00 on the company.

Credit Suisse (NYSE:CS) cuts its EPS estimate on General Electric (GE) ‘s. They have an “Outperform” rating and a price target of $23.00 on the company.

Citigroup lowered its EPS estimate on Honeywell International Inc. (HON). They have a “hold” rating and a price target of $65.00 on the company.

Citigroup boosted its EPS estimate on PNC Financial Services (PNC). They have a “Hold” rating and a price target of $64.00 on the company.

Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) cuts its EPS estimate on Reynolds American, Inc. (RAI). They have an “Equal Weight” rating and a price target of $38.00 on the company.

UBS AG lowered its EPS estimate on The Travelers Companies, Inc. (TRV). They have a “Buy” rating and a price target of $66.00 on the company.

GE's (GE) Immelt Front Man for Obama

General Electric (NYSE:GE) CEO Jeffrey Immelt continues to lose credibility; increasingly so since being installed as Chairman of President Obama's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness.

In an attempt to cover up Obama's failed economic policies, Immelt said at a jobs summit at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, "The people who are part of the business sector, the people in this room, have got to stop complaining about government and get some action underway. There's no excuse today for lack of leadership. The truth is we all need to be part of the solution."

What a strawman assertion.

In reality, the hundreds of billions in so-called stimulus has been an abject failure, and Obama has his man out there attempting to cover up his clueless policies and attempt to place the blame on businesses for the lack of hiring. As if they're supposed to hire in order to make Obama look good, no matter how bad it hurts their businesses.

There's only one reason in the world businesses don't hire, and that's because there is no reason to.

Businesses will either offer overtime to existing employees when they get new business that is temporary in nature, or higher when the new business appears to be long term.

So for Immelt to call for businesses to lead in job creation is an ignorant statement, but one that most readers don't understand, as far as how businesses interact with economic conditions.

Businesses do research in order to get the best available data to make these types of decisions. When the data gives them the go ahead, or long-term business is secured, businesses will higher accordingly. If not, they remain in a holding pattern, as they have for a long time.

It has nothing to do with leadership at all, but the realities of the current economic circumstances, and the socialist attitude and disposition of Obama, which is of course, anti-business.

Obama is all over the map concerning his policies, and you don't know who is going to show up on a given day. That leads to uncertainty over the near- and long-term future, and businesses won't make decisions to hire until there is more clarity.

A survey be the U.S. Chamber of Commerce found that 30 percent of businesses weren't hiring because of economic uncertainty, and another 22 percent said weak sales was another reason.

Both of those ensure there will be no hiring anytime soon by businesses, and neither should they be if they are to survive.

Most businesses see the government policies of Obmaa as the major barrier to the economy improving, and see the need for changes in that regard if things are going to improve.

For Jeffrey Immelt to call for businesses to lead in hiring in the current economic environment is in reality a call for businesses to potentially sacrifice themselves to make Obama and the Democrats look good.

Immelt is lowering himself in the eyes of the business community, increasingly being looked upon as a shill for Obama, as he lectures businesses to stop complaining about him and his disastrous economic policies.

Business owners and managers agree, as Obamacare, too much regulation and uncertainty over Obama continue to be the major obstacles for about 40 percent of those who were surveyed.

The greatest hindrance to economic recovery and ending the deep recession is Obama and the Democrats. The solution is to vote them out of office.

Incredibly, U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Thomas Donohue, and Immelt called for Congress quickly agrees to raise the debt ceiling in order to remove that as an uncertainty.

To use the debt ceiling issue as the reason for uncertainty of businesses is bizarre at the least. Uncertainty has been rampant for several years, and the debt ceiling is irrelevant in that regard.

What Donohue and Immelt are doing is confirming they're in bed with Obama and the government, as the only reason to be concerned about that is because they are looking for more taxpayer handouts; something GE is among the leaders in the U.S. in.

There should be no raising of the debt ceiling, no new taxes, decreased regulation, cutting corporate taxes, along with spending. Those actions are what will boost the economy, not more government interference in the economy and crony capitalism.

For Immelt, it would be nice to see him become a businessman rather that someone bagging at the public trough and taking the attention away from failed policies of Obama and the Democrats.

General Electric (GE) Most Shorted Conglomerate on NYSE

General Electric Company (NYSE:GE) is the most shorted conglomerate on the New York Stock Exchange at this time, with 68,205,817 shares sold short on April 29th, 2011.

Another 63,091,905 shares were sold short on April 15, with the boost being over 5 million shares sold between the two dates.

General Electric Company operates as a technology, media, and financial services company around the world. It has a strong presence in the energy sector as well.

General Electric closed Monday at $19.76, down $0.13, or 0.65 percent.

Dividend Yields for (NOC) (GE) (ETN) (ITW) (EMR)

Indicated dividend yields for Standard & Poor's 500 Index companies Northrop Grumman Corp (NOC), General Electric (GE), Eaton (ETN), Illinois Tool Works Inc (ITW) and Emerson Electric Co (EMR).

These dividend data indicate dividend yields of companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index as of Saturday, April 30. The yield is determined by taking the latest declared dividend, annualized and divided by the price of the stock. Payout ratios are calculated based on latest quarterly dividend paid divided by earnings.

Northrop Grumman Corp (NOC) has a dividend yield of 3.14 percent on a declared dividend of $0.50. The payout ratio is 27.8.

General Electric Co (GE) has a dividend yield of 2.93 percent on a declared dividend of $0.15. The payout ratio is 44.5.

General Dynamics Corp (GD) has a dividend yield of 2.58 percent on a declared dividend of $0.47. The payout ratio is 28.3.

Eaton Corp (ETN) has a dividend yield of 2.54 percent on a declared dividend of $0.34. The payout ratio is 40.4.

Illinois Tool Works Inc (ITW) has a dividend yield of 2.33 percent on a declared dividend of $0.34. The payout ratio is 27.2.

Emerson Electric Co (EMR) has a dividend yield of 2.27 percent on a declared dividend of $0.34. The payout ratio is 54.4.

Goldman (GS) Likes (ERJ) (PCP) (BA) (BEAV) (UTX) (GE) in Aerospace

Citing demand from China, Goldman Sachs said they like the Aerospace sector and named their favorite public companies in the space as Embraer SA (NYSE: ERJ), Precision Castparts Corp. (NYSE: PCP), Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA), BE Aerospace Inc. (NASDAQ: BEAV), United Technologies (NYSE: UTX) and General Electric (NYSE: GE).

Goldman mentioned they had underestimated the growing civil aerospace industry in China, saying, "We believe China will deliver its first narrow body aircraft in 5-8 years, and its first domestically produced aero engine and its first wide body aircraft in 10-20 years. This is a longer-term concern for Western air-framers and their suppliers but is an issue they are considering now."

China now accounts for about 15 percent of the annual deliveries of large aircraft from manufacturers Boeing and Airbus. This is estimated to grow to 20 percent over the next couple of decades, as China is looking to acquire about 4,00 new large commercial planes during that time.

The growing middle class in China is the fuel behind the growing travel demand.

Other companies mentioned by Goldman that they like are Safran, MTU, Cathay Pacific, China Eastern, and Shanghai International Airport.

Uranium One (UUU) (NLR) (UEC) (SO) Closed Mixed in Monday Trading

Shares of uranium and nuclear companies like Market Vectors Nuclear Energy (NYSEArca:NLR), Uranium Energy (AMEX:UEC), Uranium One (TSE:UUU) and Southern Company (NYSE:SO) closed down Monday, April 25th, as the initial shock of the nuclear challenges in Japan from the earthquake start to gradually wind down.

The headline that the nuclear sector is going to be abandoned and replaced by other so-called "green" energy is of course ludicrous, as solar and wind turbines are a poor and unpredictable source of energy, and will never be able to supply, or come close to supplying, the growing energy needs of the world.

While it's obvious the nuclear industry will go over safety measures to ensure the highest safety levels possible, the idea of taking an extremely rare occurrence like an 8.9 earthquake in Japan as the worst case scenario to determine nuclear strategies isn't going to happen, even though the industry will be safer and better for making any improvements they can.

Uranium suppliers, either way, will continue to enjoy growth going forward, regardless of the response to the industry in the aftermath of Japan, as existing nuclear plants will continue to operate for years into the future, and will need uranium to power them.

Who could be hurt more, depending on if they have any courage to continue on in the sector or not, are General Electric (NYSE:GE) and Siemens (NYSE:SI).

Diamond (DO) (MRO) (BAS) (NPBC) (GE) Price Targets Boosted April 25th

Price targets on Diamond Offshore Drilling, Inc. (NYSE: DO), Marathon Oil Co. (NYSE: MRO), Basic Energy Services (NYSE: BAS), National Penn Bancshares, Inc. (NASDAQ: NPBC) and General Electric (NYSE: GE) were all boosted April 25th.

RBC Capital raised their price target on shares of Diamond Offshore Drilling, Inc. from $83.00 to $85.00. They have a “sector perform” rating on the stock.

Howard Weil raised their price target on Marathon Oil Co. from $58.00 to $60.00. They have an “outperform” rating on the stock.

RBC Capital raised their price target on Basic Energy Services from $26.00 to $33.00. They have a “sector perform” rating on the stock.

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Inc raised their price target on National Penn Bancshares, Inc. to $8.50.

Deutsche Bank (NYSE:DB) maintained a “Hold” rating on General Electric. They have a $23.00 price target on the stock.

Obama Clueless on Energy

The ridiculous conclusion of Barack Obama to ignore the huge amount of oil we still have in this country and off our coasts, and focus on the ignorant and anemic idea of developing the darling of the left and so-called environmentalists and their mainstream media allies: renewable energy, reveals he has no energy plan. As to focus on renewable energy is another way of saying he's forsaking the present, as renewable energy will probably never be able to meet the growing energy needs of the world, and definitely not in our lifetimes.

All the ignorant call for renewable energy does is attempt to make Obama look good to his political base, which has been abandoning him as he feebly attempts to move toward the center as the 2012 elections get close.

As for the high prices of oil and gas today, much of that has been brought upon us by Obama and his administration itself, as they refuse to rein in the Federal Reserve and force them to stop printing money, which is debasing the U.S. dollar and driving the price of commodities up, including oil and gas.

In an attempt to distract people from that reality, Obama announced the Justice Department is going to seek out cases where fraud or manipulation in the oil markets has driven up prices, even as his Attorney General Eric Holder says there are a number of legal reasons why gas and oil prices have gone up.

Obama said this in his weekly radio and Internet address, in reference to spending taxpayer dollars on renewable energy sources, "That's the key to helping families at the pump and reducing our dependence on foreign oil."

"Instead of subsidizing yesterday's energy sources, we need to invest in tomorrow's," he added.

There are several things wrong with this. First of all, our energy sources aren't yesterday,s, they're today's. Wasting taxpayer dollars on what will be at best a small supplemental addition to our energy supply will do nothing now, and little in the future, towards dealing with our energy needs.

Secondly, renewable energy, which while sounding good, isn't tomorrow's energy source. Experts across the board have concluded it will never meet the increasing energy needs of the world.

Finally, the key to lowering our depending on foreign oil is by digging our own, which is sitting wasting in the land and off our shores because of political correctness and the deceptive and false idea there is such a thing as global warming, which has been debunked everywhere as the climate has been cooling off for over a decade.

These are people who consider the earth their mother, or the equivalent of that, and find it outrageous that fossil fuels are being used, even though they reside in the earth.

This is why the global warming or climate change myth was created, in order to extract money from taxpayers in order to pursue a bogeyman that doesn't exist so the oil industry, and others, are weakened to the point of not being able to profitably drill for oil.

We depend on foreign oil because of the criminal laws that don't allow companies to continue to drill for the extraordinary amounts on American soil, including the proven reserves in Alaska.

Now we already have the environmental movement ramping up their lies and assertions about shale oil and gas, making it look like it'll be far worse than other types of extraction methods.

Why? Because there is so much available they're peak oil theories and realization natural gas could power America for an extraordinary long period of time, has them up in arms over the possibility pet projects, subsidies and pursuit of dubious alternative energy sources could come to a screeching halt.

Now you know why GE (GE) CEO Jeffrey Immelt was named to Obama's business committee, as he's been chasing these projects, more for the tax advantages and subsidies, than any real chance the wind turbines and solar panels will take care of our energy needs. That should be investigated thoroughly in light of the stakes we face.

Lawmakers need to get some courage and battle back against this immense waste of taxpayer dollars and time and start to tap into the energy resources we need now, not some type of wishful thinking in the future just because something is called "renewable." It may be renewable, but it's hardly a serious answer to energy issues.

General Electric's (GE) Earnings Blow Past Estimates

General Electric Co. (NYSE:GE) reported earnings that soared past analysts' estimates, as the company generated an increase in earnings of 77 percent in the first quarter.

GE reported a first-quarter profit of $3.43 billion, or 31 cents a share, up from $1.95 billion, or 17 cents a share, last year in the same quarter. The company's operating earnings, which exclude discontinued operations and other items such as nonoperating pension costs, climbed to 33 cents a share from 20 cents. Revenue jumped 6.2 percent to $38.45 billion.

Analysts had projected earnings of 28 cents a share on $34.64 billion in revenue.

GE Capital, the company's largest segment by revenue, saw its top line rise 3.3 percent while profit more than tripled. GE's energy infrastructure and aviation units saw their revenue rise 9.2 percent and 4.9 percent.

GE raised its quarterly dividend a penney to 15 cents.

General Electric was trading at $19.97, falling $0.43, or 2.13 percent, as of 12:21 PM EDT.

GE (GE) Adds Conditions to Immelt's Options

After an outcry from some shareholders, General Electric (NYSE:GE) decided to put new conditions on the two million stock options granted to Chief Executive Officer Jeff Immelt last year.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, GE said, "Some shareholders have expressed the view that additional performance conditions should be applied to Mr. Immelt's 2010 stock option award."

Included in the changes will be the successful increase in the industrial businesses of the company, and as measured by the performance of the Standard & Poor's 500-stock index, returns beating the index in regard to stock appreciation and dividends.

Under the changes, 50 percent of the options will vest only if GE pulls in cumulative industrial cash flow from operating activities of at least $55 billion between the start of 2011 and the end of 2014. The other half will vest only if GE's overall shareholder return is equal to or better than that of the S&P 500 during that same period of time.

General Electric was trading at $20.24, gaining $0.26, or 1.30 percent, as of 1:31 PM EDT.