InvesTrust Acquires Shares of 101,298 GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

InvesTrust bought a new position in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 101,298 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,422,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FMR LLC grew its position in GSK by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 29,008,928 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,185,885,000 after purchasing an additional 2,224,345 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of GSK by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,576,930 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $759,425,000 after buying an additional 870,449 shares during the last quarter. Clifford Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of GSK by 14.3% in the third quarter. Clifford Capital Partners LLC now owns 409,669 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $16,747,000 after acquiring an additional 51,378 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC increased its position in shares of GSK by 61.8% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 433,628 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $17,728,000 after acquiring an additional 165,556 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in GSK by 20.0% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 500,495 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $20,460,000 after acquiring an additional 83,433 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on GSK shares. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $53.00 to $39.50 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com lowered shares of GSK from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Sunday. Finally, Guggenheim downgraded shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.25.

GSK Stock Performance

NYSE:GSK traded down $0.19 on Wednesday, reaching $33.90. 1,448,735 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,534,150. The firm has a market cap of $70.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $38.30. GSK plc has a 52 week low of $32.83 and a 52 week high of $45.92.

GSK Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $0.3928 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.57 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.63%. This is an increase from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. GSK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 98.70%.

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.