GSK (NYSE:GSK) Lowered to Hold Rating by Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of GSK (NYSE:GSK) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $39.50 price target on the pharmaceutical company’s stock, down from their previous price target of $53.00.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on GSK. Argus raised shares of GSK to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Guggenheim downgraded shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of GSK to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, GSK has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.25.

GSK Stock Performance

NYSE:GSK opened at $34.38 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.46 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market cap of $71.24 billion, a PE ratio of 22.32, a P/E/G ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 0.66. GSK has a 1-year low of $34.29 and a 1-year high of $45.92.

GSK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.3928 per share. This is an increase from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.57%. GSK’s payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Insider Activity

In other news, major shareholder Plc Gsk bought 2,791,930 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $8.00 per share, for a total transaction of $22,335,440.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 16,775,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $134,205,528. This trade represents a 19.97 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 10.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in GSK by 8.4% in the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 736,510 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,973,000 after purchasing an additional 56,843 shares in the last quarter. Cohen Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in GSK in the second quarter valued at about $349,000. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of GSK by 7.7% in the third quarter. Stockman Wealth Management Inc. now owns 209,517 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $8,565,000 after buying an additional 15,024 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its position in shares of GSK by 14.9% in the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 23,493 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,007,000 after buying an additional 3,044 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of GSK by 448.7% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 17,690 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $758,000 after buying an additional 14,466 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

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.