Investors Purchase Large Volume of Call Options on GSK (NYSE:GSK)

GSK PLC Sponsored ADR (NYSE:GSK) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Investors bought 81,873 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 1,106% compared to the typical volume of 6,790 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of GSK in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of GSK in a report on Friday, January 16th. HSBC reissued a “reduce” rating on shares of GSK in a research note on Wednesday, December 10th. Barclays restated an “underweight” rating on shares of GSK in a research report on Friday. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of GSK in a report on Monday, December 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, GSK presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $44.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at GSK

In related news, major shareholder Plc Gsk purchased 1,470,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $19.00 per share, for a total transaction of $27,930,000.00. Following the acquisition, the insider owned 18,245,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $346,668,129. This represents a 8.76% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 10.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On GSK

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of GSK. SkyView Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of GSK during the 4th quarter worth $302,000. IHT Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of GSK by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,010 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $736,000 after purchasing an additional 188 shares in the last quarter. Align Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of GSK in the 4th quarter worth $5,628,000. Seven Mile Advisory purchased a new position in GSK during the 4th quarter worth $220,000. Finally, Arkadios Wealth Advisors increased its position in GSK by 59.0% during the 4th quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 107,379 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,266,000 after buying an additional 39,863 shares in the last quarter. 15.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

GSK Stock Down 2.3%

Shares of NYSE GSK opened at $59.48 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $52.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $121.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.07, a PEG ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 0.46. GSK has a 52-week low of $32.38 and a 52-week high of $61.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.82.

GSK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 9th. Investors of record on Friday, February 20th will be paid a $0.4856 dividend. This represents a $1.94 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.3%. This is a boost from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.42. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 20th. GSK’s payout ratio is currently 45.95%.

GSK Company Profile

GSK (GlaxoSmithKline plc) is a London-headquartered, multinational pharmaceutical and healthcare company formed through the 2000 merger of Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham. The company is dual-listed and operates globally, developing, manufacturing and commercializing prescription medicines, vaccines and specialty treatments. Over its history GSK has evolved through portfolio reshaping and strategic transactions to focus on science-led pharmaceuticals and vaccines.

GSK’s core activities include research and development of therapies and vaccines across a range of therapeutic areas, commercial manufacturing, and global marketing.