Investors Purchase High Volume of GSK Put Options (NYSE:GSK)

GSK plc (NYSE:GSK - Get Free Report) saw some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Stock traders purchased 11,285 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 184% compared to the typical daily volume of 3,973 put options.

GSK Stock Up 2.1 %

GSK stock traded up $0.85 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $40.60. 3,800,630 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,486,465. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.88. The firm has a market cap of $84.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.49, a P/E/G ratio of 1.40 and a beta of 0.64. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $41.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.86. GSK has a 1-year low of $33.33 and a 1-year high of $43.84.

GSK (NYSE:GSK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 31st. The pharmaceutical company reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.79 billion. GSK had a return on equity of 51.45% and a net margin of 16.24%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that GSK will post 4.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.3564 per share. This is a boost from GSK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.43 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. GSK's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.82%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup upgraded shares of GSK from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Guggenheim upgraded shares of GSK from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of GSK from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of GSK in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They issued an "equal weight" rating on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, GSK presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".

Hedge Funds Weigh In On GSK

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd grew its stake in shares of GSK by 71.3% in the first quarter. JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd now owns 21,141,012 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $909,063,000 after buying an additional 8,800,822 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of GSK by 7.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,099,513 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $656,107,000 after buying an additional 1,291,161 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of GSK by 10.8% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 15,065,558 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $558,330,000 after purchasing an additional 1,465,165 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its position in GSK by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 12,089,370 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $448,032,000 after acquiring an additional 30,600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased its stake in shares of GSK by 5.1% during the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,079,897 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $292,896,000 after purchasing an additional 389,871 shares during the period. 15.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.