GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) Receives $43.25 Consensus PT from Brokerages

GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) has earned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the ten brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and three have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $43.25.

Several analysts have commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $53.00 to $39.50 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. StockNews.com cut GSK from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday, January 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Guggenheim downgraded shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st.

Institutional Trading of GSK

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of GSK during the 2nd quarter valued at about $129,000. Caprock Group LLC lifted its holdings in GSK by 115.6% during the second quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 26,000 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,011,000 after purchasing an additional 13,943 shares in the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of GSK by 3.5% in the second quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 15,273 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $588,000 after purchasing an additional 515 shares during the period. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of GSK in the second quarter worth $37,000. Finally, Choreo LLC raised its position in shares of GSK by 759.4% during the 2nd quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 52,157 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,002,000 after purchasing an additional 46,088 shares during the period. 15.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

GSK Price Performance

Shares of GSK opened at $33.72 on Tuesday. GSK has a twelve month low of $32.83 and a twelve month high of $45.92. The company has a market capitalization of $69.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.63. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $34.46 and a 200 day moving average of $38.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98.

GSK Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a dividend of $0.3928 per share. This is an increase from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. GSK’s payout ratio is currently 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.