Guggenheim Downgrades GSK (NYSE:GSK) to Neutral

GSK (NYSE:GSK) was downgraded by stock analysts at Guggenheim from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on GSK. Argus raised GSK to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Barclays upgraded GSK to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, UBS Group cut GSK from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $50.00.

GSK Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:GSK opened at $36.87 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $76.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.65. GSK has a 1 year low of $33.67 and a 1 year high of $45.92. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $40.66 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.02.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The pharmaceutical company reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.09. GSK had a net margin of 7.97% and a return on equity of 51.23%. The firm had revenue of $9.95 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.49 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that GSK will post 4.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at GSK

In other GSK news, major shareholder Plc Gsk purchased 2,791,930 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The stock was bought 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $134,205,528. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 10.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On GSK

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of GSK by 43.8% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 13,546 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $581,000 after acquiring an additional 4,126 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its stake in GSK by 4.5% in the first quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 25,128 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,077,000 after purchasing an additional 1,078 shares during the last quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in GSK by 4.7% during the first quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 6,097 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $261,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of GSK by 13.0% in the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 79,606 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,413,000 after buying an additional 9,187 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of GSK by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 22,177 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $951,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.