Diploma PLC (LON:DPLM) Insider Acquires £29,460 in Stock

Diploma PLC (LON:DPLM) insider David S. Lowden acquired 750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 21st. The stock was acquired at an average price of GBX 3,928 ($50.57) per share, for a total transaction of £29,460 ($37,929.70).

Diploma Stock Performance

LON:DPLM opened at GBX 3,960 ($50.98) on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is GBX 4,379.20 and its 200-day moving average is GBX 4,376.57. The company has a market cap of £5.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.52, a PEG ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 62.17, a quick ratio of 0.80 and a current ratio of 2.17. Diploma PLC has a 52-week low of GBX 3,468 ($44.65) and a 52-week high of GBX 4,808 ($61.90).

Diploma Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 31st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 16th were issued a GBX 42 ($0.54) dividend. This is a boost from Diploma’s previous dividend of $17.30. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, January 16th. This represents a yield of 0.93%. Diploma’s dividend payout ratio is 65.52%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Diploma from GBX 4,370 ($56.26) to GBX 4,420 ($56.91) and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of GBX 4,567.50 ($58.81).

About Diploma

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.