Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on GSK (NYSE:GSK)

GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) was the target of unusually large options trading on Monday. Stock investors bought 9,012 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 48% compared to the typical volume of 6,099 call options.

GSK Price Performance

NYSE:GSK opened at $40.35 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $83.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.37, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 has a 12-month low of $31.72 and a 12-month high of $45.93. The company’s 50-day moving average is $36.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $36.96.

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

GSK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.3932 per share. This is a positive change from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.57 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.90%. GSK’s dividend payout ratio is 98.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Institutional Trading of GSK

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of GSK. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of GSK by 82.1% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 52,823,032 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,786,475,000 after acquiring an additional 23,814,104 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA grew its position in GSK by 70.1% during the 4th quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 25,261,660 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $854,349,000 after purchasing an additional 10,407,905 shares in the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of GSK by 1,360.4% in the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 2,165,043 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $73,222,000 after purchasing an additional 2,016,795 shares in the last quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP lifted its position in shares of GSK by 132.7% in the fourth quarter. Bridgewater Associates LP now owns 2,247,691 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $76,017,000 after purchasing an additional 1,281,855 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Woodline Partners LP purchased a new stake in GSK in the 4th quarter worth approximately $36,665,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.