GSK's (GSK) "Buy" Rating Reiterated at Jefferies Financial Group

Key Points

• Jefferies reaffirmed its “Buy” rating on GSK and maintained a GBX 2,500 price target, implying 34.34% upside from the previous close.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed overall: GSK has a consensus rating of “Hold”, with two Buy, five Hold, and one Sell ratings; the average price target is GBX 2,064.38.
• GSK shares opened at GBX 1,861, while recent quarterly results showed GBX 10.80 earnings per share, a 14.52% net margin, and a 28.35% return on equity.

GSK (LON:GSK - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating restated by analysts at Jefferies Financial Group in a report released on Tuesday, Digital Look reports. They currently have a GBX 2,500 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group's price target suggests a potential upside of 34.34% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and set a GBX 1,975 target price on shares of GSK in a report on Tuesday, September 8th. Berenberg Bank increased their price target on shares of GSK from GBX 2,000 to GBX 2,200 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 15th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "hold" rating and issued a GBX 2,000 price objective on shares of GSK in a research report on Tuesday, September 29th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of GBX 2,064.38.

GSK Stock Up 0.3%

GSK stock opened at GBX 1,861 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 103.36, a current ratio of 0.82 and a quick ratio of 0.73. The stock has a market capitalization of £74.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.29. GSK has a fifty-two week low of GBX 1,592 and a fifty-two week high of GBX 2,282. The business has a 50-day moving average of GBX 1,845.67 and a 200-day moving average of GBX 1,924.07.

GSK (LON:GSK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The company reported GBX 10.80 EPS for the quarter. GSK had a net margin of 14.52% and a return on equity of 28.35%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that GSK will post 175.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Jonathan Symonds bought 1,500 shares of GSK stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 18th. The shares were bought at an average cost of GBX 1,881 per share, with a total value of £28,215. Also, insider Anne Beal acquired 637 shares of GSK stock in a transaction on Friday, September 18th. The shares were purchased at an average price of GBX 4,985 per share, for a total transaction of £31,754.45. In the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 2,151 shares of company stock worth $6,021,921. Corporate insiders own 0.20% of the company's stock.

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. The company offers shingles, meningitis, respiratory syncytial virus, flu, polio, influenza, and pandemic vaccines. It also provides medicines for HIV, oncology, respiratory/immunology, and other specialty medicine products, as well as inhaled medicines for asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and antibiotics for infections.

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