GSK (NYSE:GSK) Lowered to “Underweight” Rating by Barclays

Barclays downgraded shares of GSK (NYSE:GSK) from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating in a research note published on Tuesday morning, MarketBeat reports.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on GSK. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of GSK in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Bank of America upgraded GSK from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Cfra set a $53.00 price target on GSK in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of GSK in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, HSBC restated a “reduce” rating on shares of GSK in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, GSK currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $44.13.

GSK Trading Up 3.4%

Shares of NYSE:GSK opened at $50.67 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $48.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.88. GSK has a 1 year low of $31.72 and a 1 year high of $51.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $103.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.84 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

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

GSK Cuts Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 8th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be paid a $0.4171 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. This represents a $1.67 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.3%. GSK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.33%.

Insider Activity at GSK

In other news, major shareholder Plc Gsk purchased 1,470,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $19.00 per share, with a total value of $27,930,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 18,245,691 shares in the company, valued at $346,668,129. The trade was a 8.76% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 10.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On GSK

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ransom Advisory Ltd grew its stake in shares of GSK by 14.9% in the 4th quarter. Ransom Advisory Ltd now owns 4,475 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $219,000 after buying an additional 582 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in GSK by 19.6% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 9,698 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $476,000 after acquiring an additional 1,586 shares during the period. Triumph Capital Management acquired a new stake in GSK during the third quarter worth $40,000. Vermillion & White Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in GSK in the third quarter valued at $111,000. Finally, Verity Asset Management Inc. raised its position in GSK by 13.7% in the third quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. now owns 20,577 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $888,000 after purchasing an additional 2,482 shares during the period. 15.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

GSK Company Profile

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.