GSK (NYSE:GSK) Raised to Strong-Buy at StockNews.com

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

GSK has been the topic of a number of other reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut 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 report on Tuesday, November 12th. Guggenheim cut GSK from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.25.

GSK Price Performance

Shares of GSK stock opened at $32.88 on Monday. GSK has a one year low of $31.72 and a one year high of $45.92. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $34.20 and its 200 day moving average is $38.08. The stock has a market cap of $68.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.63. 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 firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a $0.3928 dividend. This represents a $1.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.78%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This is a positive change from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. GSK’s dividend payout ratio is presently 95.45%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On GSK

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 2,224,345 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of GSK by 4.9% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,576,930 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $759,425,000 after purchasing an additional 870,449 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA grew its position in shares of GSK by 2.4% during the third quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 14,853,755 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $607,222,000 after purchasing an additional 342,365 shares in the last quarter. Provident Trust Co. grew its position in shares of GSK by 1.7% during the third quarter. Provident Trust Co. now owns 3,953,602 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $161,623,000 after purchasing an additional 66,765 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of GSK by 30.8% during the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 3,542,143 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $144,803,000 after purchasing an additional 833,080 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

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.