GSK Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:GSK)

GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) saw unusually large options trading on Monday. Investors acquired 10,999 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 53% compared to the typical daily volume of 7,195 call options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GSK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup upgraded GSK to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on GSK from $52.50 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on GSK in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $47.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Berenberg Bank upgraded GSK to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. One 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, GSK has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On GSK

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of GSK by 2,816.7% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 700 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 676 shares in the last quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of GSK during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of GSK during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of GSK during the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new position in GSK during the 1st quarter worth about $49,000. Institutional investors own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

GSK Price Performance

GSK stock opened at $38.21 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $42.47 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.24. GSK has a one year low of $33.67 and a one year high of $45.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The firm has a market cap of $79.18 billion, a PE ratio of 13.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 0.64.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $9.34 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.98 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that GSK will post 4.11 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.3762 dividend. This is a positive change from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.94%. GSK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.26%.

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.