Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Lowers Position in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC decreased its stake in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) by 13.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,923 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 900 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in GSK were worth $200,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GSK. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its holdings in GSK by 73.8% in the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 711 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co boosted its position in shares of GSK by 200.0% in the fourth quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 750 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of GSK in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its position in shares of GSK by 195.5% during the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 789 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares during the period. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new position in shares of GSK during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

GSK Stock Performance

NYSE GSK opened at $40.08 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.52. GSK plc has a 1-year low of $31.72 and a 1-year high of $45.92. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.20. The stock has a market capitalization of $83.07 billion, a PE ratio of 25.21, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.58.

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

GSK Increases Dividend

The firm 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 is Friday, February 21st. This is an increase from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.92%. GSK’s payout ratio is 98.74%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on GSK shares. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on GSK in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating for the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com raised GSK from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $53.00 to $39.50 in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, GSK has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.