Brokerages Set GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) Target Price at $47.00

Shares of GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have issued a hold recommendation, two have issued a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $47.00.

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on GSK shares. Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of GSK to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Guggenheim upgraded shares of GSK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Citigroup upgraded shares of GSK to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of GSK in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $47.00 target price for the company.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On GSK

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GSK. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in GSK by 2,816.7% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 700 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 676 shares during the period. Register Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in GSK in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in GSK in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in GSK in the 4th quarter worth approximately $40,000. Finally, Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its position in GSK by 62.2% in the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 1,327 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $48,000 after purchasing an additional 509 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

GSK Stock Performance

Shares of GSK opened at $38.66 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.58. GSK has a one year low of $33.67 and a one year high of $45.92. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $80.12 billion, a PE ratio of 13.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 0.66.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.15. GSK had a net margin of 14.62% and a return on equity of 51.54%. The business had revenue of $9.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.98 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that GSK will post 4.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a $0.3762 dividend. This is a positive change from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. GSK’s payout ratio is presently 53.26%.

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.