GSK (LON:GSK) Given "Hold" Rating at Berenberg Bank

Key Points

• Berenberg Bank restated a Hold rating on GSK with a GBX 2,000 price target (about a 2.96% downside); MarketBeat's consensus is also Hold with an average target of GBX 1,966.43 (3 Buy / 3 Hold / 1 Sell).
• Shares trade near GBX 2,061 with a market cap of £82.67bn and a P/E of 14.85; GSK reported GBX 172 EPS last quarter and shows a 17.5% net margin and 37.19% ROE, indicating solid profitability.
• Insider moves include Wendy Becker buying 411 shares at GBX 1,963 and Luke Miels selling 15,579 shares at GBX 2,160; insiders have net purchased 11,447 shares over the last 90 days and own 0.26% of the company.

GSK (LON:GSK - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "hold" rating restated by equities research analysts at Berenberg Bank in a research note issued on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. They presently have a GBX 2,000 price objective on the stock. Berenberg Bank's price objective points to a potential downside of 2.96% from the stock's current price.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on GSK. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of GSK from GBX 1,600 to GBX 1,675 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a GBX 1,940 price target on shares of GSK in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an "underweight" rating on shares of GSK in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. Shore Capital Group reissued a "buy" rating on shares of GSK in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on GSK from GBX 1,900 to GBX 2,250 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of GBX 1,966.43.

GSK Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of LON:GSK opened at GBX 2,061 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of GBX 2,031.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of GBX 1,825.76. The stock has a market capitalization of £82.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.85, a PEG ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.32. GSK has a 1 year low of GBX 1,242.50 and a 1 year high of GBX 2,282. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 108.20, a quick ratio of 0.73 and a current ratio of 0.82.

GSK (LON:GSK - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The company reported GBX 172 EPS for the quarter. GSK had a net margin of 17.50% and a return on equity of 37.19%. Equities analysts forecast that GSK will post 175.980975 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Wendy Becker purchased 411 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 20th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of GBX 1,963 per share, with a total value of £8,067.93. Also, insider Luke Miels sold 15,579 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 2,160, for a total transaction of £336,506.40. Over the last ninety days, insiders have purchased 11,447 shares of company stock worth $24,273,097. Company insiders own 0.26% of the company's stock.

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. 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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