GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) Holdings Boosted by Smartleaf Asset Management LLC

Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) by 65.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,946 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,746 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC’s holdings in GSK were worth $402,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FMR LLC boosted its position in GSK by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 29,008,928 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,185,885,000 after purchasing an additional 2,224,345 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in GSK by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,836,797 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $637,061,000 after buying an additional 259,867 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its holdings in shares of GSK by 2.4% during the third quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 14,853,755 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $607,222,000 after acquiring an additional 342,365 shares during the period. Equity Investment Corp boosted its holdings in shares of GSK by 13.3% during the fourth quarter. Equity Investment Corp now owns 3,962,581 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $134,014,000 after acquiring an additional 466,327 shares during the period. Finally, Provident Trust Co. grew its position in shares of GSK by 1.7% during the third quarter. Provident Trust Co. now owns 3,953,602 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $161,623,000 after acquiring an additional 66,765 shares during the last quarter. 15.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

GSK Trading Up 1.3 %

GSK stock opened at $38.46 on Wednesday. GSK plc has a 12-month low of $31.72 and a 12-month high of $45.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $79.70 billion, a PE ratio of 24.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.58. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.18.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.15. GSK had a return on equity of 48.59% and a net margin of 8.13%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that GSK plc will post 4.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.3932 per share. This is a positive change from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. GSK’s payout ratio is presently 98.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

GSK has been the topic of several recent research reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Jefferies Financial Group cut GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $53.00 to $39.50 in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. StockNews.com raised GSK from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on GSK in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, GSK presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.25.

GSK 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.