GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) has earned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $40.58.

GSK has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on GSK in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating on the stock. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on shares of GSK in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $35.25 price objective on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of GSK from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dodge & Cox boosted its position in GSK by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 68,440,912 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,314,672,000 after purchasing an additional 353,749 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of GSK by 82.1% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 52,823,032 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,786,475,000 after buying an additional 23,814,104 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its holdings in shares of GSK by 70.1% during the 4th quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 25,261,660 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $854,349,000 after buying an additional 10,407,905 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in GSK by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,836,797 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $637,061,000 after buying an additional 259,867 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in GSK by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,566,922 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $255,914,000 after acquiring an additional 35,134 shares during the last quarter. 15.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

GSK Trading Up 1.6 %

NYSE:GSK opened at $36.52 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.05. GSK has a fifty-two week low of $31.72 and a fifty-two week high of $45.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.35 billion, a PE ratio of 22.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.56.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.15. GSK had a net margin of 8.13% and a return on equity of 48.59%. Sell-side analysts expect that GSK will post 4.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were paid a $0.3932 dividend. This is a positive change from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.57 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.31%. GSK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.63%.

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.