Morgan Stanley Initiates Coverage on GSK (NYSE:GSK)

Analysts at Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of GSK (NYSE:GSK) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The firm set an “equal weight” rating on the pharmaceutical company’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on GSK. Guggenheim cut shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com upgraded GSK from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $53.00 to $39.50 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.25.

GSK Price Performance

NYSE:GSK opened at $36.07 on Wednesday. GSK has a 52 week low of $31.72 and a 52 week high of $45.92. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $34.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.53. The company has a market capitalization of $74.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.15. GSK had a net margin of 8.13% and a return on equity of 48.59%. Equities analysts expect that GSK will post 4.07 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of GSK

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co grew its stake in GSK by 200.0% in the 4th quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 750 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in shares of GSK in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of GSK in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of GSK by 195.5% during the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 789 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its stake in GSK by 73.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 711 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. 15.74% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.