Diploma PLC (LON:DPLM) Insider Acquires £167,647.60 in Stock

Diploma PLC (LON:DPLM) insider Chris Davies purchased 3,917 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 20th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of GBX 4,280 ($53.65) per share, for a total transaction of £167,647.60 ($210,163.72).

Diploma Price Performance

Shares of LON:DPLM opened at GBX 4,261.58 ($53.42) on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of £5.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 4,955.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.75. Diploma PLC has a 1-year low of GBX 3,200 ($40.12) and a 1-year high of GBX 4,653 ($58.33). The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is GBX 4,408.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is GBX 4,326.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 45.69, a current ratio of 2.27 and a quick ratio of 0.80.

Diploma Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 31st. Investors of record on Thursday, January 16th will be paid a dividend of GBX 42 ($0.53) per share. This is a boost from Diploma’s previous dividend of $17.30. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 16th. This represents a dividend yield of 0.93%. Diploma’s payout ratio is 6,627.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Diploma from GBX 4,150 ($52.02) to GBX 4,370 ($54.78) and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a GBX 5,100 ($63.93) target price on shares of Diploma in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Shore Capital downgraded Diploma to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Diploma currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of GBX 4,555 ($57.10).

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.