GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) Receives $50.00 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Shares of GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the nine research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $50.00.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on GSK shares. Argus raised GSK to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of GSK from $52.50 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Barclays raised shares of GSK to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, UBS Group lowered shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th.

GSK Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of GSK stock opened at $37.52 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $77.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.13, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.65. GSK has a 12-month low of $33.67 and a 12-month high of $45.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.54, a current ratio of 0.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $41.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.14.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The pharmaceutical company reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $9.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.49 billion. GSK had a net margin of 12.87% and a return on equity of 51.48%. Research analysts forecast that GSK will post 4.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a dividend of $0.3843 per share. This represents a $1.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.10%. This is an increase from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. GSK’s payout ratio is 62.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling at GSK

In related news, major shareholder Plc Gsk purchased 2,791,930 shares of GSK stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $8.00 per share, for a total transaction of $22,335,440.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 16,775,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $134,205,528. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 10.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of GSK

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GSK. Signet Financial Management LLC increased its stake in GSK by 4.6% in the first quarter. Signet Financial Management LLC now owns 11,162 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $479,000 after purchasing an additional 494 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in GSK by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 157,266 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,742,000 after buying an additional 4,082 shares during the period. Thrive Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in GSK by 23.3% during the first quarter. Thrive Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,642 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $499,000 after acquiring an additional 2,198 shares in the last quarter. Register Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of GSK in the first quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Romano Brothers AND Company bought a new stake in shares of GSK in the first quarter worth about $216,000. 15.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.