GSK PLC Sponsored ADR (NYSE:GSK) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" by Analysts

Key Points

• GSK has a consensus analyst rating of "Hold" from 10 brokerages, with an average 1-year price target of $53.00.
• Recent analyst actions were mixed: Wall Street Zen upgraded GSK to buy, HSBC moved it to hold, RBC reiterated outperform, and Deutsche Bank reaffirmed hold.
• The stock rose 0.6% to $52.77 and the company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.44 per share, equal to a 3.3% annualized yield.

Shares of GSK PLC Sponsored ADR (NYSE:GSK - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus recommendation of "Hold" by the ten brokerages that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have given a hold recommendation and three have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $53.00.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on GSK. Wall Street Zen upgraded GSK from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, June 27th. HSBC raised shares of GSK from a "reduce" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of GSK in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "hold" rating on shares of GSK in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of GSK from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a report on Thursday, June 11th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On GSK

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of GSK by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 33,195,985 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,627,931,000 after buying an additional 968,370 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its holdings in GSK by 2,032.8% in the 4th quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 854,331 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $41,896,000 after acquiring an additional 814,275 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. grew its position in GSK by 1.2% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 401,777 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $15,444,000 after acquiring an additional 4,855 shares in the last quarter. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab acquired a new stake in GSK in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,385,000. Finally, Align Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of GSK during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,628,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 15.74% of the company's stock.

GSK Trading Up 0.6%

NYSE:GSK traded up $0.30 on Friday, hitting $52.77. 2,867,656 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,280,796. The stock has a market cap of $106.87 billion, a PE ratio of 13.71, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a current ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.80. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $51.44 and a 200-day moving average of $53.23. GSK has a fifty-two week low of $35.45 and a fifty-two week high of $61.69.

GSK Cuts Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 15th were given a $0.44 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 15th. This represents a $1.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. GSK's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.49%.

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.

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