Traders Buy Large Volume of GSK Put Options (NYSE:GSK)

GSK PLC Sponsored ADR (NYSE:GSK) was the target of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Stock traders bought 39,552 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 731% compared to the average daily volume of 4,762 put options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on GSK shares. Barclays reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of GSK in a report on Friday, February 20th. Weiss Ratings downgraded GSK from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of GSK in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.00.

GSK Stock Up 0.4%

NYSE:GSK traded up $0.21 on Tuesday, hitting $52.44. The stock had a trading volume of 2,298,439 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,812,095. The business’s fifty day moving average is $53.07 and its 200 day moving average is $52.75. The company has a market cap of $106.19 billion, a PE ratio of 13.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. GSK has a 52 week low of $35.45 and a 52 week high of $61.69.

GSK Cuts Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th will be issued a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. GSK’s dividend payout ratio is presently 47.01%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of GSK by 2.8% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 32,227,615 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,390,944,000 after purchasing an additional 889,210 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new position in shares of GSK in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $528,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of GSK by 182.7% in the fourth quarter. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 30,188 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,480,000 after purchasing an additional 19,509 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of GSK by 146.6% in the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 29,529 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,448,000 after purchasing an additional 17,553 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab bought a new position in shares of GSK in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,385,000. Institutional investors own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

About GSK

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.