Halma (LON:HLMA) Upgraded at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Halma (LON:HLMA) to a neutral rating in a report published on Friday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has GBX 2,600 ($33.13) target price on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on HLMA. Berenberg Bank upped their price objective on Halma from GBX 2,450 ($31.22) to GBX 2,700 ($34.41) and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Shore Capital reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Halma in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of GBX 2,587.50 ($32.97).

Halma Stock Performance

HLMA opened at GBX 2,772 ($35.33) on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is GBX 2,569.68 and its 200-day simple moving average is GBX 2,541.56. The company has a current ratio of 2.45, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 45.83. The stock has a market cap of £10.46 billion, a PE ratio of 3,904.23, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.53. Halma has a 1 year low of GBX 2,104.01 ($26.81) and a 1 year high of GBX 2,780 ($35.43).

Halma Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently declared a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 19th will be given a dividend of GBX 9 ($0.11) per share. This represents a dividend yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, December 19th. Halma’s dividend payout ratio is currently 3,098.59%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jennifer Ward sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 2,648 ($33.75), for a total transaction of £1,324,000 ($1,687,269.02). 2.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Halma Company Profile

Halma plc, together its subsidiaries, provides technology solutions in the safety, health, and environmental markets in the United States, Mainland Europe, the United Kingdom, the Asia Pacific, Africa, the Middle East, and internationally. It operates through three segments: Safety, Environmental & Analysis, and Healthcare.