GSK (NYSE:GSK) Earns Equal Weight Rating from Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of GSK (NYSE:GSK) in a research report issued on Wednesday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The firm set an “equal weight” rating on the pharmaceutical company’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lowered GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $53.00 to $39.50 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Guggenheim cut shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.25.

GSK Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GSK opened at $36.07 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $74.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.68, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.64. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $34.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.53. 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 results on Wednesday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.15. GSK had a net margin of 8.13% and a return on equity of 48.59%. Analysts expect that GSK will post 4.07 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC grew its position in shares of GSK by 8.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 29,008,928 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,185,885,000 after purchasing an additional 2,224,345 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in GSK by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,576,930 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $759,425,000 after buying an additional 870,449 shares in the last quarter. Clifford Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in GSK by 14.3% in the 3rd quarter. Clifford Capital Partners LLC now owns 409,669 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $16,747,000 after buying an additional 51,378 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of GSK by 61.8% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 433,628 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $17,728,000 after acquiring an additional 165,556 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of GSK by 20.0% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 500,495 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $20,460,000 after acquiring an additional 83,433 shares during the last quarter. 15.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.