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 sent to investors on Monday morning.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on GSK. Guggenheim downgraded GSK from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $53.00 to $39.50 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.25.

GSK Stock Up 2.5 %

GSK stock opened at $32.88 on Monday. GSK has a fifty-two week low of $31.72 and a fifty-two week high of $45.92. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $34.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $38.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $68.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.63.

GSK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were paid a dividend of $0.3928 per share. This represents a $1.57 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.78%. This is an increase from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. GSK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 95.45%.

Institutional Trading of GSK

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GSK. FMR LLC lifted its holdings in shares of GSK by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 29,008,928 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,185,885,000 after buying an additional 2,224,345 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its holdings in shares of GSK by 13.9% during the 2nd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 14,511,390 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $558,689,000 after buying an additional 1,773,020 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund bought a new position in shares of GSK during the 2nd quarter valued at $52,487,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of GSK by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,576,930 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $759,425,000 after buying an additional 870,449 shares during the period. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of GSK by 30.8% during the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 3,542,143 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $144,803,000 after buying an additional 833,080 shares during the period. 15.74% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.