GSK (NYSE:GSK) Sets New 12-Month High Following Insider Buying Activity

GSK PLC Sponsored ADR (NYSE:GSK)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday following insider buying activity. The stock traded as high as $49.32 and last traded at $49.3140, with a volume of 1745701 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $48.81.

Specifically, major shareholder Plc Gsk purchased 1,470,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $19.00 per share, for a total transaction of $27,930,000.00. Following the purchase, the insider directly owned 18,245,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $346,668,129. This trade represents a 8.76% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on GSK. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of GSK in a report on Monday, October 27th. Wall Street Zen upgraded GSK from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 5th. Bank of America raised shares of GSK from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of GSK in a research report on Monday. Finally, HSBC reiterated a “reduce” rating on shares of GSK in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $44.13.

GSK Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $99.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.83, a PEG ratio of 1.34 and a beta of 0.45. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $46.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.84.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The pharmaceutical company reported $1.48 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.26 by $0.22. The business had revenue of $11.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.21 billion. GSK had a net margin of 17.16% and a return on equity of 48.64%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.50 earnings per share. GSK has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.730-4.810 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that GSK PLC Sponsored ADR will post 4.14 EPS for the current year.

GSK Cuts Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Investors of record on Friday, November 14th will be issued a $0.4171 dividend. This represents a $1.67 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. GSK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.33%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On GSK

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in GSK. TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co grew its holdings in GSK by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. TOWER TRUST & INVESTMENT Co now owns 23,195 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,001,000 after buying an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers raised its holdings in shares of GSK by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 18,403 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $713,000 after acquiring an additional 386 shares during the period. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of GSK by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 12,989 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $499,000 after acquiring an additional 388 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of GSK by 16.0% in the third quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,854 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $123,000 after purchasing an additional 393 shares during the period. Finally, Fiduciary Alliance LLC increased its position in GSK by 3.6% during the second quarter. Fiduciary Alliance LLC now owns 11,846 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $455,000 after purchasing an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. 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.