GSK (NYSE:GSK) Downgraded to Buy Rating by StockNews.com

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

GSK has been the topic of a number of other reports. Guggenheim downgraded GSK from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays raised shares of GSK to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Jefferies Financial Group cut GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, GSK currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.25.

GSK Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GSK opened at $33.60 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $69.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.64. 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 1 year low of $32.83 and a 1 year high of $45.92. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $38.94.

GSK Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.57 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.68%. This is a positive change from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. GSK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 98.70%.

Insider Transactions at GSK

In other GSK news, major shareholder Plc Gsk purchased 2,791,930 shares of GSK stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $8.00 per share, for a total transaction of $22,335,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 16,775,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $134,205,528. The trade was a 19.97 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 10.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of GSK

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Eastern Bank bought a new position in shares of GSK in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of GSK by 73.8% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 711 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Concord Wealth Partners increased its stake in GSK by 231.8% in the 3rd quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 783 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 547 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in GSK during the second quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of GSK in the 3rd quarter valued at about $42,000. 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.