GSK (NYSE:GSK) Shares Gap Up After Earnings Beat

GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) shares gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $34.84, but opened at $37.06. GSK shares last traded at $37.57, with a volume of 920,933 shares.

The pharmaceutical company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.15. GSK had a return on equity of 50.62% and a net margin of 7.97%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on GSK shares. Guggenheim downgraded shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com downgraded GSK from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $53.00 to $39.50 in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.25.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On GSK

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its position in shares of GSK by 73.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 711 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in GSK by 2.0% in the 3rd quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,693 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $682,000 after acquiring an additional 323 shares in the last quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group lifted its position in GSK by 6.3% in the 3rd quarter. Rehmann Capital Advisory Group now owns 5,608 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $232,000 after acquiring an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in GSK by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter. Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. now owns 15,559 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $636,000 after acquiring an additional 344 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bond & Devick Financial Network Inc. lifted its position in GSK by 5.4% in the 3rd quarter. Bond & Devick Financial Network Inc. now owns 7,830 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $320,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

GSK Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $78.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.40, a PEG ratio of 1.38 and a beta of 0.64. 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 company’s 50-day moving average is $34.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.60.

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.