Investors Purchase High Volume of GSK Put Options (NYSE:GSK)

GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) saw unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Stock investors acquired 11,285 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 184% compared to the average volume of 3,973 put options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on GSK in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Citigroup upgraded GSK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Guggenheim raised GSK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of GSK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, GSK currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On GSK

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GSK. Callahan Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of GSK during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,119,000. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN lifted its stake in shares of GSK by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 3,961 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $147,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of GSK by 305.7% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 118,233 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,383,000 after purchasing an additional 89,089 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. grew its position in shares of GSK by 23.6% in the third quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 76,840 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,785,000 after purchasing an additional 14,689 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in GSK in the fourth quarter valued at $7,024,000. 15.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

GSK Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of GSK stock opened at $40.60 on Tuesday. GSK has a 1 year low of $33.33 and a 1 year high of $43.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 0.88 and a quick ratio of 0.62. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $41.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.86. The company has a market capitalization of $84.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.64.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The pharmaceutical company reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.04). GSK had a return on equity of 51.45% and a net margin of 16.24%. The company had revenue of $10 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.79 billion. Sell-side analysts anticipate that GSK will post 4.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were issued a $0.3564 dividend. This represents a $1.43 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.51%. This is a positive change from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. GSK’s dividend payout ratio is 52.82%.

GSK Company Profile

GSK plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the research, development, and manufacture of vaccines, and specialty and general medicines to prevent and treat disease in the United Kingdom, the United States, and internationally. It operates through two segments, Commercial Operations and Total R&D.