The leader of embattled General Electric is stepping up and buying the company’s shares with his own personal funds.
General Electric Chairman and CEO John Flannery disclosed he purchased 60,000 GE shares at a stock price of $18.27 on Wednesday in a government securities filing. The transaction is worth nearly $1.1 million.
Shares of General Electric rose 0.8 percent shortly after Friday’s market open.
Flannery’s insider buy transaction may be a vote of confidence for the industrial company. GE shares plunged after the company’s dividend cut announcement and the unveiling of its turnaround plan during its Nov. 13 investor day.
“The GE of the future is going to be a more focused industrial company,” Flannery said during his presentation at the company’s investor day. “It will leverage a lot of game-changing capabilities.”
General Electric stock is significantly underperforming the market this year. Its shares have declined 42 percent year to date through Thursday versus the S&P 500’s 15.5 percent return.
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