Advisors Asset Management Inc. Boosts Stake in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) by 5.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 119,736 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,559 shares during the quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in GSK were worth $5,133,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in GSK by 305.7% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 118,233 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,383,000 after acquiring an additional 89,089 shares during the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL grew its holdings in GSK by 14.9% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 23,493 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,007,000 after purchasing an additional 3,044 shares during the period. JPL Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in GSK during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,129,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in GSK by 448.7% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 17,690 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $758,000 after purchasing an additional 14,466 shares during the period. Finally, Thomasville National Bank grew its holdings in GSK by 5.3% during the first quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 453,795 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $19,454,000 after purchasing an additional 23,022 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on GSK shares. Berenberg Bank raised GSK to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on GSK in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $47.00 price target for the company. Citigroup raised GSK to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on GSK from $52.50 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, UBS Group lowered GSK from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, July 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, GSK has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $50.00.

GSK Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GSK traded up $0.79 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $39.86. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,064,146 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,663,170. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.61 billion, a PE ratio of 14.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $40.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.40. GSK plc has a 52 week low of $33.67 and a 52 week high of $45.92.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.15. GSK had a return on equity of 51.54% and a net margin of 14.62%. The company had revenue of $9.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.98 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that GSK plc will post 4.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th were paid a dividend of $0.3762 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. This is a positive change from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.78%. GSK’s dividend payout ratio is presently 54.71%.

About GSK

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.