GSK (NYSE:GSK) Rating Increased to Strong-Buy at StockNews.com

GSK (NYSE:GSK) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Friday.

GSK has been the topic of several other research reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the company from $53.00 to $39.50 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Guggenheim cut GSK from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.25.

GSK Trading Down 1.0 %

GSK stock traded down $0.35 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $36.03. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,356,346 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,676,826. The company has a market cap of $74.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.64. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $34.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. GSK has a 12 month low of $31.72 and a 12 month high of $45.92.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.15. GSK had a return on equity of 50.62% and a net margin of 7.97%. On average, equities research analysts predict that GSK will post 3.92 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of GSK

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in GSK. Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co grew its position in GSK by 200.0% during 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 in the last quarter. Eastern Bank purchased a new position in GSK during the third quarter worth about $26,000. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in GSK during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its position in GSK by 195.5% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its position in GSK by 73.8% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 711 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. 15.74% of the stock is currently owned by 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.