GSK PLC Sponsored ADR (NYSE:GSK) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” from Brokerages

GSK PLC Sponsored ADR (NYSE:GSK) has received a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the ten analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $44.1250.

GSK has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating on shares of GSK in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of GSK in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of GSK in a report on Monday, October 27th. Barclays downgraded GSK from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, HSBC reissued a “reduce” rating on shares of GSK in a research report on Wednesday, December 10th.

GSK Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GSK opened at $49.12 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.84. The firm has a market cap of $100.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.43 and a beta of 0.45. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $48.63 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.80. GSK has a fifty-two week low of $32.38 and a fifty-two week high of $51.46.

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

GSK Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 8th. Investors of record on Friday, November 14th were issued a $0.4171 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 14th. This represents a $1.67 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. GSK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 48.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other GSK news, major shareholder Plc Gsk bought 1,470,000 shares of GSK stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $19.00 per share, with a total value of $27,930,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the insider owned 18,245,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $346,668,129. This represents a 8.76% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 10.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On GSK

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of GSK. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of GSK by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 32,227,615 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,390,944,000 after purchasing an additional 889,210 shares in the last quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY grew its holdings in GSK by 0.8% during the second quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 1,659,814 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $63,737,000 after purchasing an additional 13,023 shares during the period. Sound Income Strategies LLC increased its position in GSK by 7.3% in the second quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 431,256 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $16,560,000 after buying an additional 29,197 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of GSK by 1.2% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 401,777 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $15,444,000 after buying an additional 4,855 shares during the period. Finally, Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. raised its stake in shares of GSK by 4.7% in the second quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 375,481 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $14,418,000 after buying an additional 16,999 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

About GSK

GSK (GlaxoSmithKline plc) is a London-headquartered, multinational pharmaceutical and healthcare company formed through the 2000 merger of Glaxo Wellcome and SmithKline Beecham. The company is dual-listed and operates globally, developing, manufacturing and commercializing prescription medicines, vaccines and specialty treatments. Over its history GSK has evolved through portfolio reshaping and strategic transactions to focus on science-led pharmaceuticals and vaccines.

GSK’s core activities include research and development of therapies and vaccines across a range of therapeutic areas, commercial manufacturing, and global marketing.