GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) Receives Consensus Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the five brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has given a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company.

A number of research analysts have commented on GSK shares. Citigroup upgraded shares of GSK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of GSK in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Finally, Guggenheim raised shares of GSK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th.

GSK Stock Up 0.3 %

GSK opened at $43.50 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $39.14. GSK has a 52 week low of $33.33 and a 52 week high of $43.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.62, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The stock has a market cap of $90.15 billion, a PE ratio of 15.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.65.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The pharmaceutical company reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $10 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.79 billion. GSK had a net margin of 14.62% and a return on equity of 51.54%. As a group, research analysts expect that GSK will post 4.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a $0.3762 dividend. This is a boost from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.46%. GSK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 57.61%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On GSK

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd increased its stake in shares of GSK by 71.3% during the first quarter. JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd now owns 21,141,012 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $909,063,000 after buying an additional 8,800,822 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in GSK during the 4th quarter valued at $92,281,000. Armistice Capital LLC raised its holdings in GSK by 670.5% in the 4th quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 2,196,000 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $81,384,000 after purchasing an additional 1,911,000 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of GSK by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 15,065,558 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $558,330,000 after purchasing an additional 1,465,165 shares during the period. Finally, Provident Trust Co. boosted its stake in shares of GSK by 53.6% during the 4th quarter. Provident Trust Co. now owns 3,716,830 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $137,746,000 after purchasing an additional 1,297,385 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

GSK Company Profile

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.