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

GSK plc (NYSE:GSKGet Free Report) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders purchased 10,769 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 79% compared to the typical volume of 6,021 put options.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC grew its holdings in GSK by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 29,008,928 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,185,885,000 after buying an additional 2,224,345 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of GSK by 4.9% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,576,930 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $759,425,000 after acquiring an additional 870,449 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA increased its position in GSK by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 14,853,755 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $607,222,000 after purchasing an additional 342,365 shares in the last quarter. Provident Trust Co. increased its position in GSK by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Provident Trust Co. now owns 3,953,602 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $161,623,000 after purchasing an additional 66,765 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its stake in GSK by 30.8% in the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 3,542,143 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $144,803,000 after purchasing an additional 833,080 shares during the last quarter. 15.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

GSK Price Performance

Shares of GSK stock traded up $0.66 on Thursday, hitting $33.46. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,354,802 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,671,019. The company has a market capitalization of $69.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.63. GSK has a 52-week low of $31.72 and a 52-week high of $45.92. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $34.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98.

GSK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a $0.3928 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. This is a positive change from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.57 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.70%. GSK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 96.10%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on GSK. StockNews.com raised GSK from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group lowered GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $53.00 to $39.50 in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Guggenheim downgraded GSK from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of 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 four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.25.

View Our Latest Report on GSK

About GSK

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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.

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