On March 7, 2023 at 10:29:48 ET an unusually large $82.50K block of Call contracts in Viatris (VTRS) was bought, with a strike price of $10.00 / share, expiring in 318 days (on January 19, 2024). Fintel tracks all large options trades, and the premium spent on this trade was 1.62 sigmas above the mean, placing it in the 98.93 percentile of all recent large trades made in VTRS options.

This trade was first picked up on Fintel’s real time Options Flow tool, where all large block option trades are tracked.

Analyst Price Forecast Suggests 26.33% Upside

As of March 6, 2023, the average one-year price target for Viatris is $13.72. The forecasts range from a low of $10.10 to a high of $18.90. The average price target represents an increase of 26.33% from its latest reported closing price of $10.86.

The projected annual non-GAAP EPS is $3.30.

What is the Fund Sentiment?

There are 1667 funds or institutions reporting positions in Viatris. This is an increase of 19 owner(s) or 1.15% in the last quarter. Average portfolio weight of all funds dedicated to VTRS is 0.20%, an increase of 8.57%. Total shares owned by institutions increased in the last three months by 1.43% to 1,031,543K shares. The put/call ratio of VTRS is 0.69, indicating a bullish outlook.

What are large shareholders doing?

Davis Selected Advisers holds 54,722K shares representing 4.57% ownership of the company. In it’s prior filing, the firm reported owning 55,460K shares, representing a decrease of 1.35%. The firm increased its portfolio allocation in VTRS by 23.19% over the last quarter.

VTSMX – Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund Investor Shares holds 36,904K shares representing 3.08% ownership of the company. In it’s prior filing, the firm reported owning 36,209K shares, representing an increase of 1.88%. The firm increased its portfolio allocation in VTRS by 22.95% over the last quarter.

Price T Rowe Associates holds 32,611K shares representing 2.72% ownership of the company. In it’s prior filing, the firm reported owning 28,575K shares, representing an increase of 12.38%. The firm increased its portfolio allocation in VTRS by 46.39% over the last quarter.

VIMSX – Vanguard Mid-Cap Index Fund Investor Shares holds 28,265K shares representing 2.36% ownership of the company. In it’s prior filing, the firm reported owning 27,950K shares, representing an increase of 1.11%. The firm increased its portfolio allocation in VTRS by 21.34% over the last quarter.

VFINX – Vanguard 500 Index Fund Investor Shares holds 28,033K shares representing 2.34% ownership of the company. In it’s prior filing, the firm reported owning 27,489K shares, representing an increase of 1.94%. The firm increased its portfolio allocation in VTRS by 22.73% over the last quarter.

Viatris Declares $0.12 Dividend

On February 24, 2023 the company declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.12 per share ($0.48 annualized). Shareholders of record as of March 9, 2023 will receive the payment on March 17, 2023. Previously, the company paid $0.12 per share.

At the current share price of $10.86 / share, the stock’s dividend yield is 4.42%. Looking back five years and taking a sample every week, the average dividend yield has been 3.75%, the lowest has been 2.59%, and the highest has been 5.63%. The standard deviation of yields is 0.79 (n=106).

The current dividend yield is 0.85 standard deviations above the historical average.

Additionally, the company’s dividend payout ratio is 0.28. The payout ratio tells us how much of a company’s income is paid out in dividends. A payout ratio of one (1.0) means 100% of the company’s income is paid in a dividend. A payout ratio greater than one means the company is dipping into savings in order to maintain its dividend – not a healthy situation. Companies with few growth prospects are expected to pay out most of their income in dividends, which typically means a payout ratio between 0.5 and 1.0. Companies with good growth prospects are expected to retain some earnings in order to invest in those growth prospects, which translates to a payout ratio of zero to 0.5.

The company has not increased its dividend in the last three years.

Viatris Background Information
(This description is provided by the company.)

Viatris Inc. is a new kind of healthcare company, empowering people worldwide to live healthier at every stage of life. It provides access to medicines, advance sustainable operations, develop innovative solutions and leverage its collective expertise to connect more people to more products and services through its one-of-a-kind Global Healthcare GatewayTM. Formed in November 2020through the combination of Mylan and Pfizer’s Upjohn business, Viatris brings together scientific, manufacturing and distribution expertise with proven regulatory, medical and commercial capabilities to deliver high-quality medicines to patients in more than 165 countries and territories. Viatris’ portfolio comprises more than 1,400 approved molecules across a wide range of therapeutic areas, spanning both non-communicable and infectious diseases, including globally recognized brands, complex generic and branded medicines, a growing portfolio of biosimilars and a variety of over-the-counter consumer products. With a global workforce of approximately 45,000, Viatris is headquartered in the U.S., with global centers in Pittsburgh, Shanghaiand Hyderabad, India.

This article originally appeared on Fintel

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