GSK (NYSE:GSK) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of GSK (NYSE:GSK) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research report released on Saturday.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $53.00 to $39.50 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Guggenheim cut shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.25.

GSK Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GSK opened at $33.65 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $35.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.59. The company has a market cap of $69.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.85, a PEG ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.64. GSK has a twelve month low of $32.83 and a twelve month high of $45.92.

GSK Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.3928 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This is a boost from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.67%. GSK’s payout ratio is 98.70%.

Institutional Trading of GSK

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of GSK by 8.1% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 926,517 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $35,671,000 after buying an additional 69,649 shares during the period. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. increased its position in GSK by 2.7% during the second quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 30,543 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,176,000 after buying an additional 803 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in GSK by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,535 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $213,000 after acquiring an additional 327 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of GSK during the 2nd quarter worth about $3,032,000. Finally, Rothschild Investment LLC bought a new stake in GSK in the 2nd quarter valued at $688,000. 15.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.