GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has issued a hold recommendation and three have given a buy recommendation to the company.

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GSK. Guggenheim upgraded GSK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of GSK in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They set an “equal weight” rating for the company. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of GSK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 13th.

Institutional Trading of GSK

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in GSK. JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd raised its holdings in shares of GSK by 71.3% in the 1st quarter. JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd now owns 21,141,012 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $909,063,000 after purchasing an additional 8,800,822 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in GSK by 7.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 18,099,513 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $656,107,000 after buying an additional 1,291,161 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in GSK by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 15,065,558 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $558,330,000 after buying an additional 1,465,165 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its holdings in GSK by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 12,089,370 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $448,032,000 after buying an additional 30,600 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in GSK by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,079,897 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $292,896,000 after acquiring an additional 389,871 shares in the last quarter. 15.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

GSK Price Performance

Shares of GSK stock opened at $43.45 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $41.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.24. GSK has a 52-week low of $33.33 and a 52-week high of $43.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.85 and a beta of 0.65.

GSK Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a dividend of $0.3762 per share. This is an increase from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.46%. GSK’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.61%.

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.