Zacks Research Has Pessimistic Outlook of GSK Q1 Earnings

GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) – Analysts at Zacks Research reduced their Q1 2026 EPS estimates for shares of GSK in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, December 11th. Zacks Research analyst E. Bagri now expects that the pharmaceutical company will post earnings of $1.12 per share for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $1.14. The consensus estimate for GSK’s current full-year earnings is $4.02 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for GSK’s Q2 2026 earnings at $1.12 EPS and Q3 2026 earnings at $1.52 EPS.

GSK has been the topic of several other research reports. Barclays upgraded shares of GSK to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Guggenheim downgraded shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $53.00 to $39.50 in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.25.

GSK Stock Down 1.1 %

GSK stock opened at $33.59 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $69.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.53. GSK has a fifty-two week low of $32.83 and a fifty-two week high of $45.92. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $36.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.14.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On GSK

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GSK. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in GSK by 168.4% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 2,464 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $95,000 after buying an additional 1,546 shares in the last quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in GSK by 11.7% in the second quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 18,608 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $716,000 after buying an additional 1,951 shares in the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. boosted its position in GSK by 10.8% in the second quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 33,938 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,309,000 after buying an additional 3,310 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in GSK by 10.4% in the second quarter. Private Advisory Group LLC now owns 121,295 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,670,000 after buying an additional 11,457 shares in the last quarter. Finally, &PARTNERS boosted its position in GSK by 133.5% in the second quarter. &PARTNERS now owns 15,876 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $611,000 after buying an additional 9,077 shares in the last quarter. 15.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at GSK

In other news, major shareholder Plc Gsk purchased 2,791,930 shares of GSK stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $8.00 per share, for a total transaction of $22,335,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 16,775,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $134,205,528. This represents a 19.97 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 10.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

GSK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $0.3928 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.68%. This is a boost from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. GSK’s payout ratio is presently 98.70%.

About GSK

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.