GSK (NYSE:GSK) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of GSK (NYSE:GSK) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on GSK. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of GSK in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating on the stock. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on GSK in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $35.25 price objective on the stock. Eight 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, GSK currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $40.58.

GSK Stock Down 0.2 %

GSK opened at $37.42 on Thursday. GSK has a 12 month low of $31.72 and a 12 month high of $45.93. The company has a market cap of $77.21 billion, a PE ratio of 23.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.56. 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 company has a 50 day moving average of $37.50 and a 200 day moving average of $36.02.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.15. GSK had a return on equity of 48.59% and a net margin of 8.13%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that GSK will post 4.14 EPS for the current year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st were given a $0.3932 dividend. This is an increase from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.20%. GSK’s payout ratio is presently 100.63%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On GSK

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co increased its holdings in shares of GSK by 200.0% in the fourth quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 750 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of GSK during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its stake in shares of GSK by 195.5% in the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 789 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 522 shares during the period. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in GSK during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of GSK by 470.1% in the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 992 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 818 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

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.