CoreFirst Bank & Trust Buys New Shares in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

CoreFirst Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,752 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of GSK. United Bank increased its holdings in GSK by 7.3% in the third quarter. United Bank now owns 25,785 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,054,000 after purchasing an additional 1,760 shares in the last quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased its stake in shares of GSK by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 53,348 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,181,000 after acquiring an additional 1,737 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of GSK by 13.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 121,603 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,971,000 after acquiring an additional 14,687 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in GSK by 61.8% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 433,628 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $17,728,000 after acquiring an additional 165,556 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in GSK by 527.4% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,807 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 1,519 shares during the period. 15.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on GSK. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of GSK in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded GSK from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.25.

GSK Price Performance

Shares of NYSE GSK opened at $38.65 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.78. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $36.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.80. The stock has a market cap of $80.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.31, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.58. GSK plc has a fifty-two week low of $31.72 and a fifty-two week high of $45.93.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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, research analysts anticipate that GSK plc will post 4.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a $0.3932 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.57 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.07%. This is an increase from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. GSK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 98.74%.

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.