GSK Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:GSK)

GSK PLC Sponsored ADR (NYSE:GSK) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders purchased 81,873 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 1,106% compared to the average daily volume of 6,790 call options.

Analyst Ratings Changes

GSK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Cfra set a $53.00 price objective on shares of GSK in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of GSK in a research note on Friday, January 16th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of GSK in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Barclays downgraded shares of GSK from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, HSBC reaffirmed a “reduce” rating on shares of GSK in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, GSK presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $44.13.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Plc Gsk bought 1,470,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $19.00 per share, for a total transaction of $27,930,000.00. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 18,245,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $346,668,129. This trade represents a 8.76% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 10.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GSK. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of GSK during the fourth quarter worth $302,000. IHT Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in GSK by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,010 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $736,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares during the period. Align Financial LLC purchased a new position in GSK during the fourth quarter worth approximately $5,628,000. Seven Mile Advisory acquired a new position in shares of GSK in the 4th quarter valued at $220,000. Finally, Arkadios Wealth Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of GSK by 59.0% in the 4th quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 107,379 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,266,000 after purchasing an additional 39,863 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

GSK Stock Performance

Shares of GSK stock opened at $60.86 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $51.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.25. The company has a market cap of $124.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.70 and a beta of 0.46. GSK has a 12-month low of $32.38 and a 12-month high of $61.69.

GSK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 20th will be given a dividend of $0.4856 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 20th. This is an increase from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. GSK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 45.95%.

About GSK

GSK (GlaxoSmithKline plc) is a London-headquartered, multinational pharmaceutical and healthcare company formed through the 2000 merger of Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham. The company is dual-listed and operates globally, developing, manufacturing and commercializing prescription medicines, vaccines and specialty treatments. Over its history GSK has evolved through portfolio reshaping and strategic transactions to focus on science-led pharmaceuticals and vaccines.

GSK’s core activities include research and development of therapies and vaccines across a range of therapeutic areas, commercial manufacturing, and global marketing.