Diploma PLC (LON:DPLM) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Analysts

Diploma PLC (LON:DPLM) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is GBX 5,634.29.

DPLM has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Berenberg Bank restated a “buy” rating and set a GBX 6,350 target price on shares of Diploma in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price target on Diploma from GBX 6,000 to GBX 6,200 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 14th. Finally, Peel Hunt reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a GBX 6,150 price objective on shares of Diploma in a research report on Friday, December 19th.

Diploma Trading Up 0.4%

LON DPLM opened at GBX 5,675 on Monday. Diploma has a 52 week low of GBX 3,532 and a 52 week high of GBX 5,760. The company has a 50 day moving average price of GBX 5,473.68 and a 200 day moving average price of GBX 5,430.86. 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 £7.61 billion, a PE ratio of 41.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.75.

Diploma (LON:DPLM) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 8th. The company reported GBX 176 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. Diploma had a net margin of 9.25% and a return on equity of 13.18%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Diploma will post 163.7995512 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Diploma

In other news, insider Ian El-Mokadem acquired 500 shares of Diploma stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 14th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of GBX 5,615 per share, for a total transaction of £28,075. Also, insider Johnny Thomson sold 30,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 5,668, for a total value of £1,700,400. Over the last 90 days, insiders have acquired 1,262 shares of company stock worth $6,995,830. 1.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.