GSK (NYSE:GSK) Reaches New 52-Week Low – Here’s Why

GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)’s share price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $32.66 and last traded at $32.66, with a volume of 27544 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $33.09.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GSK has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $53.00 to $39.50 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Guggenheim lowered shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, GSK has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.25.

GSK Stock Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $34.38 and its 200-day moving average is $38.17. The stock has a market cap of $67.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.63.

GSK Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a $0.3928 dividend. This is an increase from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.57 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.82%. GSK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 95.45%.

Institutional Trading of GSK

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fiduciary Alliance LLC acquired a new stake in shares of GSK during the fourth quarter worth approximately $390,000. Green Alpha Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of GSK by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. Green Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 27,316 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $924,000 after buying an additional 4,107 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its stake in GSK by 195.5% during the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 789 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares during the last quarter. First Hawaiian Bank lifted its stake in GSK by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. First Hawaiian Bank now owns 85,052 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $2,876,000 after purchasing an additional 1,853 shares during the last quarter. Finally, InvesTrust bought a new position in GSK during the fourth quarter worth $3,422,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 15.74% 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.