Shares of GSK plc (NYSE:GSK – Get Rating) have earned an average rating of "Hold" from the fourteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $1,720.00.

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on GSK shares. AlphaValue lowered GSK to a "reduce" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 19th. UBS Group dropped their price target on GSK from GBX 1,876 ($22.67) to GBX 1,850 ($22.35) in a research report on Wednesday, July 20th. Credit Suisse Group raised GSK from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 15th. TheStreet lowered GSK from a "b" rating to a "c+" rating in a research report on Monday, August 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered GSK from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, September 8th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd boosted its position in shares of GSK by 50.4% in the 1st quarter. JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd now owns 9,016,970 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $392,735,000 after purchasing an additional 3,023,634 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of GSK by 32.5% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 9,621,370 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $419,107,000 after purchasing an additional 2,362,274 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of GSK by 48.3% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,113,039 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $309,844,000 after purchasing an additional 2,316,204 shares during the period. Bain Capital Public Equity Management II LLC acquired a new position in shares of GSK in the 2nd quarter valued at $94,194,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of GSK by 90.1% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 3,400,013 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $148,070,000 after purchasing an additional 1,611,899 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 16.86% of the company's stock.

GSK Stock Performance

GSK (NYSE:GSK – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 27th. The pharmaceutical company reported $0.87 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $8.71 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.35 billion. GSK had a return on equity of 27.84% and a net margin of 12.91%. Analysts forecast that GSK will post 3.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 6th. Investors of record on Friday, August 19th will be paid a dividend of $0.383 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 18th. This represents a $1.53 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.22%. This is a boost from GSK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.35. GSK's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 50.66%.

About GSK

(Get Rating)

GSK plc, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the creation, discovery, development, manufacture, and marketing of pharmaceutical products, vaccines, over-the-counter medicines, and health-related consumer products in the United Kingdom, the United States, and internationally. It operates through four segments: Pharmaceuticals, Pharmaceuticals R&D, Vaccines, and Consumer Healthcare.

Further Reading

• Get a free copy of the StockNews.com research report on GSK (GSK)
• Can Caterpillar Claw Higher in a Falling Market?
• Is Dave & Buster's Immune to High Inflation and Lower Spending?
• Should These 3 Top-Performing Mid-Caps Be On Your Watchlist?
• Will Wall Street's Enthusiasm About Datadog Lead To Big Gains?
• MarketBeat: Week in Review 9/19 – 9/23

Receive News & Ratings for GSK Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for GSK and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.