GSK (NYSE:GSK) Upgraded 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 Friday morning.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Jefferies Financial Group cut GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $53.00 to $39.50 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Guggenheim lowered shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.25.

GSK Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of GSK stock opened at $36.03 on Friday. GSK has a 12 month low of $31.72 and a 12 month high of $45.92. The company has a market cap of $74.68 billion, a PE ratio of 23.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The business’s 50 day moving average is $34.21 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.60.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.15. GSK had a net margin of 7.97% and a return on equity of 50.62%. Equities analysts predict that GSK will post 3.92 EPS for the current year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of $0.3932 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This is a boost from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.36%. GSK’s payout ratio is currently 96.10%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC raised its stake in shares of GSK by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 11,506 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $389,000 after buying an additional 278 shares in the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its stake in GSK by 73.8% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 711 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares during the period. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. raised its position in GSK by 2.0% in the third quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,693 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $682,000 after purchasing an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group lifted its stake in GSK by 6.3% during the third quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 5,608 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $232,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares during the period. Finally, Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in GSK by 2.3% during the third quarter. Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,559 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $636,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares in the last quarter. 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.