GSK (NYSE:GSK) Reaches New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?
by Renee Jackson · The Cerbat GemShares of GSK PLC Sponsored ADR (NYSE:GSK – Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $49.56 and last traded at $49.4040, with a volume of 1073645 shares. The stock had previously closed at $49.04.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several research analysts have commented on the company. Cfra set a $53.00 price objective on GSK in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of GSK in a research note on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of GSK in a research report on Monday, October 27th. Bank of America raised shares of GSK from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 25th. Finally, HSBC reissued a “reduce” rating on shares of GSK in a report on Wednesday, December 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.13.
Read Our Latest Analysis on GSK
GSK Stock Performance
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 $100.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.95, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 0.45. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $47.68 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.60.
GSK (NYSE:GSK – Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The pharmaceutical company reported $1.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.26 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $11.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.21 billion. GSK had a net margin of 17.16% and a return on equity of 48.64%. The company’s revenue was up 6.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.50 EPS. GSK has set its FY 2025 guidance at 4.730-4.810 EPS. On average, analysts expect that GSK PLC Sponsored ADR will post 4.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
GSK Cuts Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed 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 is Friday, November 14th. This represents a $1.67 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. GSK’s payout ratio is 46.33%.
Insider Activity
In related news, major shareholder Plc Gsk purchased 1,470,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $19.00 per share, for a total transaction of $27,930,000.00. Following the purchase, the insider owned 18,245,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $346,668,129. This trade represents a 8.76% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 10.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Institutional Trading of GSK
A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bard Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of GSK by 17.4% in the third quarter. Bard Financial Services Inc. now owns 158,145 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $6,826,000 after acquiring an additional 23,400 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in GSK by 8.6% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 90,663 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $3,512,000 after purchasing an additional 7,148 shares during the period. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY raised its stake in shares of GSK by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY now owns 1,659,814 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $63,737,000 after buying an additional 13,023 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in GSK by 201.9% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 3,982,324 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $154,244,000 after buying an additional 2,663,270 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of GSK by 997.5% in the second quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 78,019 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,996,000 after purchasing an additional 70,910 shares in the last quarter. 15.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
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.