GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) Shares Sold by Powers Advisory Group LLC

Powers Advisory Group LLC lessened its stake in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) by 18.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,850 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,081 shares during the quarter. Powers Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in GSK were worth $208,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd grew its position in GSK by 71.3% during the first quarter. JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd now owns 21,141,012 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $909,063,000 after acquiring an additional 8,800,822 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in GSK in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $92,281,000. Armistice Capital LLC lifted its position in GSK by 670.5% during the fourth quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 2,196,000 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $81,384,000 after buying an additional 1,911,000 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in GSK by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 15,065,558 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $558,330,000 after buying an additional 1,465,165 shares during the period. Finally, Provident Trust Co. boosted its position in GSK by 53.6% during the 4th quarter. Provident Trust Co. now owns 3,716,830 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $137,746,000 after purchasing an additional 1,297,385 shares during the period. 15.74% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GSK has been the topic of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on GSK in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $47.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup raised shares of GSK to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of GSK from $52.50 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of GSK to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.00.

GSK Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of GSK stock traded up $0.25 on Thursday, hitting $38.46. 1,349,530 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,702,025. GSK plc has a 52-week low of $33.67 and a 52-week high of $45.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The stock has a market cap of $79.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.93, a PEG ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 0.64. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $42.36 and its 200 day moving average is $41.24.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $9.34 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.98 billion. GSK had a net margin of 14.62% and a return on equity of 51.54%. Equities analysts anticipate that GSK plc will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a $0.3762 dividend. This is a positive change from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. GSK’s payout ratio is currently 53.26%.

GSK Company Profile

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.