Investors Buy Large Volume of GSK Call Options (NYSE:GSK)

GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Monday. Investors purchased 10,999 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 53% compared to the average daily volume of 7,195 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GSK has been the subject of several research reports. Berenberg Bank upgraded GSK to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Citigroup upgraded GSK to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Guggenheim upgraded GSK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on GSK in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $47.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.00.

GSK Price Performance

NYSE GSK traded up $0.01 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $38.51. The company had a trading volume of 1,356,277 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,643,179. GSK has a 52 week low of $33.67 and a 52 week high of $45.92. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $79.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.95, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.64.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.15. GSK had a return on equity of 51.54% and a net margin of 14.62%. The business had revenue of $9.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.98 billion. Equities research analysts expect that GSK will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a dividend of $0.3762 per share. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.91%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This is an increase from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. GSK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.26%.

Institutional Trading of GSK

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN increased its stake in GSK by 8.9% in 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 GSK by 305.7% in the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 118,233 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,383,000 after acquiring an additional 89,089 shares in the last quarter. JPL Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of GSK in the fourth quarter worth $1,129,000. Thomasville National Bank raised its stake in shares of GSK by 5.3% in the first quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 453,795 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $19,454,000 after purchasing an additional 23,022 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of GSK by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,777,695 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $65,883,000 after purchasing an additional 18,585 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

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.