GSK (LON:GSK) Reaches New 1-Year High at $1,767.50

GSK plc (LON:GSK)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as GBX 1,767.50 ($22.20) and last traded at GBX 1,762.54 ($22.14), with a volume of 15331153 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at GBX 1,733.50 ($21.78).

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on GSK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on GSK from GBX 1,530 ($19.22) to GBX 1,660 ($20.85) and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. Barclays reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and set a GBX 1,725 ($21.67) target price on shares of GSK in a report on Tuesday. Berenberg Bank raised their price target on shares of GSK from GBX 1,650 ($20.73) to GBX 1,820 ($22.86) and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 14th. Shore Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of GSK in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “buy” rating and set a GBX 1,950 ($24.50) price objective on shares of GSK in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, GSK currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of GBX 1,675.63 ($21.05).

GSK Price Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average is GBX 1,668.36 and its 200-day moving average is GBX 1,564.35. The company has a quick ratio of 0.73, a current ratio of 0.88 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 140.82. The company has a market capitalization of £73.15 billion, a PE ratio of 1,493.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.27.

GSK Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 16th will be given a dividend of GBX 15 ($0.19) per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a dividend yield of 0.9%. GSK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 5,333.33%.

Insider Activity at GSK

In other GSK news, insider Urs Rohner purchased 434 shares of GSK stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of GBX 1,662 ($20.88) per share, for a total transaction of £7,213.08 ($9,061.66). In other news, insider Emma Walmsley sold 139,792 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of GBX 1,658 ($20.83), for a total value of £2,317,751.36 ($2,911,747.94). Also, insider Urs Rohner purchased 434 shares of GSK stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 20th. The shares were bought at an average price of GBX 1,662 ($20.88) per share, for a total transaction of £7,213.08 ($9,061.66). 1.77% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.