Pearson (LON:PSON) Stock Passes Above 200-Day Moving Average – Time to Sell?

Shares of Pearson plc (LON:PSON) passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Thursday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of GBX 1,008.28 ($13.17) and traded as high as GBX 1,050 ($13.71). Pearson shares last traded at GBX 1,046 ($13.66), with a volume of 1,168,268 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PSON has been the topic of several recent research reports. Shore Capital restated a “buy” rating on shares of Pearson in a research report on Monday, July 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Pearson from GBX 1,050 ($13.71) to GBX 1,052 ($13.74) and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, July 5th. Finally, Citigroup restated a “buy” rating and issued a GBX 1,170 ($15.28) price target on shares of Pearson in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of GBX 1,101.75 ($14.39).

Pearson Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 43.56, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.78. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of GBX 1,040.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of GBX 1,008.28. The company has a market cap of £6.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 2,092.00, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 0.31.

Pearson Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 8th were given a dividend of GBX 7.40 ($0.10) per share. This represents a yield of 0.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 8th. Pearson’s payout ratio is 4,600.00%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Sherry Coutu purchased 922 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 30th. The shares were acquired at an average price of GBX 1,017 ($13.28) per share, for a total transaction of £9,376.74 ($12,244.37). 0.35% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Pearson

Pearson plc offers educational courseware, assessments, and services in the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, the Asia Pacific, other European countries, and internationally. The company operates through five segments: Assessment & Qualifications, Virtual Learning, English Language Learning, Workforce Skills, and Higher Education.