GSK (NYSE:GSK) Rating Lowered to “Buy” at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of GSK (NYSE:GSK) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a research note published on Sunday.

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

GSK Stock Performance

NYSE:GSK opened at $34.11 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $34.59 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.30. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. GSK has a twelve month low of $32.83 and a twelve month high of $45.92. The firm has a market capitalization of $70.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.15, a PEG ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.63.

GSK Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $0.3928 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This is a boost from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.57 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.61%. GSK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 98.70%.

Institutional Trading of GSK

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Range Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of GSK during the fourth quarter worth about $287,000. Bard Financial Services Inc. raised its position in shares of GSK by 38.4% during the 4th quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc. now owns 79,095 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,675,000 after buying an additional 21,950 shares in the last quarter. Boltwood Capital Management lifted its stake in shares of GSK by 9.9% in the 4th quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 12,453 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $421,000 after acquiring an additional 1,120 shares during the period. DGS Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of GSK by 3.9% in the third quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 34,438 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,408,000 after acquiring an additional 1,304 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Logan Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of GSK by 3.8% during the third quarter. Logan Capital Management Inc. now owns 83,923 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,431,000 after acquiring an additional 3,083 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.