GSK plc (LON:GSK) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Brokerages

GSK plc (LON:GSK) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the seven ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, three have given a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is GBX 1,630.63 ($20.30).

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a GBX 1,725 ($21.47) price target on shares of GSK in a research report on Monday, April 8th. Berenberg Bank boosted their target price on shares of GSK from GBX 1,650 ($20.54) to GBX 1,820 ($22.66) and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a GBX 1,950 ($24.27) price target on shares of GSK in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Shore Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of GSK in a report on Thursday, March 7th.

GSK Stock Down 0.5 %

GSK stock opened at GBX 1,575.50 ($19.61) on Friday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of GBX 1,662.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of GBX 1,545.33. GSK has a 1-year low of GBX 1,302.60 ($16.22) and a 1-year high of GBX 1,719.80 ($21.41). The company has a current ratio of 0.88, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 140.82. The company has a market cap of £64.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 1,319.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.27.

GSK Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were given a GBX 16 ($0.20) dividend. This is an increase from GSK’s previous dividend of $14.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 22nd. This represents a dividend yield of 1.04%. GSK’s dividend payout ratio is presently 5,333.33%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Urs Rohner acquired 434 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of GBX 1,662 ($20.69) per share, with a total value of £7,213.08 ($8,979.31). In other news, insider Emma Walmsley sold 139,792 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 1,658 ($20.64), for a total transaction of £2,317,751.36 ($2,885,287.39). Also, insider Urs Rohner purchased 434 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The stock was bought at an average price of GBX 1,662 ($20.69) per share, with a total value of £7,213.08 ($8,979.31). In the last ninety days, insiders bought 19,802 shares of company stock valued at $31,381,484. Insiders own 1.71% 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.