GSK (NYSE:GSK) Stock Rating Lowered by StockNews.com

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

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim downgraded shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $53.00 to $39.50 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Barclays upgraded GSK to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.25.

GSK Price Performance

Shares of GSK opened at $33.60 on Friday. GSK has a fifty-two week low of $32.83 and a fifty-two week high of $45.92. The company has a market capitalization of $69.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.64. The business’s 50-day moving average is $35.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.81.

GSK Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders 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 represents a $1.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.68%. This is an increase from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. GSK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 98.70%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other GSK news, major shareholder Plc Gsk acquired 2,791,930 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $8.00 per share, with a total value of $22,335,440.00. Following 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 acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 10.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On GSK

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of GSK by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 29,008,928 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,185,885,000 after acquiring an additional 2,224,345 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its stake in GSK by 13.9% in the second quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 14,511,390 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $558,689,000 after acquiring an additional 1,773,020 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new position in GSK during the second quarter worth $52,487,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in GSK by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,576,930 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $759,425,000 after purchasing an additional 870,449 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its stake in GSK by 30.8% in the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 3,542,143 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $144,803,000 after buying an additional 833,080 shares during 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.