GSK Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NYSE:GSK)

GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders bought 25,931 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 446% compared to the average volume of 4,748 call options.

Insider Buying and Selling at GSK

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GSK. BayBridge Capital Group LLC lifted its position in GSK by 7.9% during the third quarter. BayBridge Capital Group LLC now owns 11,086 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $453,000 after buying an additional 807 shares during the period. Heritage Oak Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in GSK in the 3rd quarter worth about $380,000. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd bought a new stake in GSK in the 3rd quarter worth about $11,842,000. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of GSK by 104.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 34,881 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,426,000 after purchasing an additional 17,829 shares during the period. Finally, Bogart Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of GSK by 98.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 1,333 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $54,000 after purchasing an additional 662 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GSK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of GSK from $52.50 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 2nd. UBS Group downgraded shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. Argus raised shares of GSK to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of GSK to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, GSK has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $50.00.

GSK Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of GSK stock opened at $37.96 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.82. GSK has a 52-week low of $33.67 and a 52-week high of $45.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $78.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.75, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.65. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $41.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.19.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The pharmaceutical company reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.09. GSK had a net margin of 12.87% and a return on equity of 51.48%. The firm had revenue of $9.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.49 billion. Equities research analysts forecast that GSK will post 4.14 EPS for the current year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a $0.3843 dividend. This is a boost from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $1.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.05%. GSK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 55.80%.

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.