GSK (NYSE:GSK) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Still a Buy?

GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) shares saw unusually-high trading volume on Wednesday . Approximately 10,740,675 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 196% from the previous session’s volume of 3,633,625 shares.The stock last traded at $40.97 and had previously closed at $38.02.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GSK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup upgraded GSK to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Barclays raised GSK to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Berenberg Bank upgraded GSK to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on GSK from $52.50 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, UBS Group downgraded shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.00.

GSK Trading Up 5.8 %

The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market cap of $83.40 billion, a PE ratio of 14.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.65. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $41.51 and a 200 day moving average of $41.44.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The pharmaceutical company reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $9.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.49 billion. GSK had a net margin of 12.87% and a return on equity of 51.48%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that GSK plc will post 4.17 earnings per share for the current year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.3843 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. This is an increase from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.82%. GSK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 54.71%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, major shareholder Plc Gsk acquired 2,791,930 shares of GSK stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $8.00 per share, with a total value of $22,335,440.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 16,775,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $134,205,528. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 10.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On GSK

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd lifted its position in shares of GSK by 71.3% in the 1st quarter. JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd now owns 21,141,012 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $909,063,000 after acquiring an additional 8,800,822 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of GSK by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 15,036,881 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $557,267,000 after buying an additional 1,436,488 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA raised its stake in shares of GSK by 13.9% in the second quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 14,511,390 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $558,689,000 after acquiring an additional 1,773,020 shares during the last quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD raised its position in GSK by 37.8% in the 1st quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 5,510,840 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $236,250,000 after purchasing an additional 1,512,442 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Equity Investment Corp raised its position in shares of GSK by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 3,433,202 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $132,178,000 after acquiring an additional 34,631 shares during the period. 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.