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

GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) saw some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Stock traders purchased 9,012 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 48% compared to the typical daily volume of 6,099 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on GSK. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of GSK in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, GSK currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.25.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On GSK

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC raised its position in GSK by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 11,506 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $389,000 after acquiring an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. Northwest Bank & Trust Co lifted its stake in shares of GSK by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Northwest Bank & Trust Co now owns 22,405 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $765,000 after purchasing an additional 289 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of GSK by 73.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 711 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group lifted its stake in GSK by 6.3% during the 3rd quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 5,608 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $232,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GC Wealth Management RIA LLC increased its holdings in GSK by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. GC Wealth Management RIA LLC now owns 14,009 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $474,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

GSK Trading Up 1.9 %

NYSE:GSK traded up $0.76 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $40.25. 1,447,547 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,291,194. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $36.05 and its 200-day moving average is $37.01. GSK has a 12-month low of $31.72 and a 12-month high of $45.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.15. GSK had a return on equity of 48.59% and a net margin of 8.13%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that GSK will post 4.14 EPS for the current year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.3932 per share. This is an increase from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.91%. GSK’s payout ratio is 98.74%.

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.