Traders Purchase Large Volume of GSK Call Options (NYSE:GSK)

GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) saw unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock investors bought 26,518 call options on the company. This is an increase of 326% compared to the average volume of 6,227 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GSK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays raised GSK to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Guggenheim cut GSK from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Argus upgraded shares of GSK to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group cut GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $53.00 to $39.50 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, GSK has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.25.

GSK Stock Performance

NYSE GSK opened at $33.46 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $38.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. GSK has a 1 year low of $32.83 and a 1 year high of $45.92.

GSK Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.3928 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.57 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.70%. This is a positive change from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. GSK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 99.35%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, major shareholder Plc Gsk bought 2,791,930 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $8.00 per share, with a total value of $22,335,440.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 16,775,691 shares in the company, valued at $134,205,528. The trade was a 19.97 % increase in their position. The acquisition 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.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of GSK. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in GSK in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its stake in GSK by 73.8% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 711 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners raised its holdings in GSK by 231.8% in the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 783 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in GSK during the 2nd quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in GSK during the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Institutional investors own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

About GSK

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.