Diploma (LON:DPLM) Stock Price Crosses Above 200 Day Moving Average - Here's What Happened

Diploma PLC (LON:DPLM - Get Free Report) passed above its 200-day moving average during trading on Tuesday . The stock has a 200-day moving average of GBX 4,367.90 ($54.98) and traded as high as GBX 4,612 ($58.05). Diploma shares last traded at GBX 4,581.48 ($57.66), with a volume of 614,589 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on DPLM shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Diploma from GBX 4,370 ($55.00) to GBX 4,420 ($55.63) and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "buy" rating and issued a GBX 5,100 ($64.19) price objective on shares of Diploma in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Shore Capital cut Diploma to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Diploma presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of GBX 4,567.50 ($57.49).

Diploma Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.80, a current ratio of 2.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 62.17. The firm has a market cap of £6.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.51, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.75. The business has a fifty day moving average of GBX 4,390.79 and a 200 day moving average of GBX 4,376.58.

Diploma (LON:DPLM - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 19th. The company reported GBX 96.50 ($1.21) EPS for the quarter. Diploma had a return on equity of 13.18% and a net margin of 9.25%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Diploma PLC will post 163.7995512 earnings per share for the current year.

Diploma Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 16th were given a dividend of GBX 42 ($0.53) per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, January 16th. This is an increase from Diploma's previous dividend of $17.30. This represents a yield of 0.93%. Diploma's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.52%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Johnny Thomson sold 26,794 shares of Diploma stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 4,536 ($57.09), for a total value of £1,215,375.84 ($1,529,736.74). Also, insider Jennifer Ward purchased 1,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was acquired at an average price of GBX 4,250 ($53.49) per share, with a total value of £42,500 ($53,492.76). Company insiders own 0.52% of the company's stock.

Diploma Company Profile

Diploma PLC, together with its subsidiaries, supplies specialized technical products and services in the United Kingdom, Continental Europe, North America, and internationally. It operates through three business sectors: Life Sciences, Seals, and Controls. The Life Sciences sector supplies technology-enabled products used in surgical procedures in operating theatres and endoscopy; testing equipment and services for clinical laboratories; and bio-pharma, food safety and testing, and other research-oriented products.