Insider Buying: Diploma PLC (LON:DPLM) Insider Acquires 1,000 Shares of Stock

Diploma PLC (LON:DPLM) insider Jennifer Ward bought 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of GBX 4,250 ($52.00) per share, for a total transaction of £42,500 ($52,000.49).

Diploma Price Performance

Shares of LON DPLM traded up GBX 80 ($0.98) during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching GBX 4,376 ($53.54). 4,634,758 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,608,677. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of GBX 4,370.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of GBX 4,335.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 45.69, a current ratio of 2.27 and a quick ratio of 0.80. The firm has a market cap of £5.87 billion, a PE ratio of 5,088.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.75. Diploma PLC has a fifty-two week low of GBX 3,200 ($39.15) and a fifty-two week high of GBX 4,653 ($56.93).

Diploma Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 16th will be issued a GBX 42 ($0.51) dividend. This is a positive change from Diploma’s previous dividend of $17.30. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, January 16th. This represents a dividend yield of 0.93%. Diploma’s dividend payout ratio is 6,627.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on DPLM. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a GBX 5,100 ($62.40) target price on shares of Diploma in a report on Friday, November 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Diploma from GBX 4,370 ($53.47) to GBX 4,420 ($54.08) and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Shore Capital downgraded Diploma to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of GBX 4,567.50 ($55.89).

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.