GSK (NYSE:GSK) Cut to “Buy” at StockNews.com

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

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on GSK. BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of GSK in a report on Tuesday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $35.25 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on GSK in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $40.58.

GSK Price Performance

GSK opened at $35.92 on Wednesday. GSK has a twelve month low of $31.72 and a twelve month high of $45.93. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The firm has a market cap of $74.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.59, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $36.11.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.15. GSK had a return on equity of 48.59% and a net margin of 8.13%. Equities research analysts expect that GSK will post 4.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a dividend of $0.3932 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.57 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.38%. This is a positive change from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. GSK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.63%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of GSK. Dodge & Cox boosted its position in shares of GSK by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 68,440,912 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,314,672,000 after buying an additional 353,749 shares during the period. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of GSK by 82.1% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 52,823,032 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,786,475,000 after purchasing an additional 23,814,104 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA increased its holdings in shares of GSK by 70.1% during the fourth quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 25,261,660 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $854,349,000 after purchasing an additional 10,407,905 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of GSK by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,836,797 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $637,061,000 after purchasing an additional 259,867 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in GSK by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 7,566,922 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $255,914,000 after purchasing an additional 35,134 shares during the period. 15.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.