GSK (NYSE:GSK) Shares Gap Down - Here's What Happened

GSK plc (NYSE:GSK - Get Free Report) gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $38.17, but opened at $36.50. GSK shares last traded at $36.52, with a volume of 1,950,167 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group downgraded GSK from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Barclays raised shares of GSK to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on GSK from $52.50 to $53.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Argus raised GSK to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, GSK has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average price target of $50.00.

GSK Trading Down 3.0 %

The company has a 50 day moving average of $40.98 and a 200 day moving average of $41.11. The firm has a market cap of $76.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

GSK (NYSE:GSK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The pharmaceutical company reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $9.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.49 billion. GSK had a net margin of 12.87% and a return on equity of 51.48%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that GSK plc will post 4.14 EPS for the current year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a dividend of $0.3843 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $1.54 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.15%. This is a positive change from GSK's previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. GSK's dividend payout ratio is currently 55.80%.

Insider Buying and Selling at GSK

In other GSK news, major shareholder Plc Gsk bought 2,791,930 shares of GSK stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The shares were bought at an average price of $8.00 per share, with a total value of $22,335,440.00. Following the purchase, the insider now owns 16,775,691 shares of the company's stock, valued at $134,205,528. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 10.00% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in GSK by 9.1% during the first quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 3,078 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock valued at $132,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the period. Boltwood Capital Management raised its holdings in GSK by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 11,133 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $429,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of GSK by 4.7% during the first quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 6,097 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $261,000 after acquiring an additional 271 shares in the last quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network raised its holdings in shares of GSK by 4.7% during the second quarter. First Affirmative Financial Network now owns 6,359 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $245,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in GSK by 9.4% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,542 shares of the pharmaceutical company's stock worth $137,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. 15.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.