1,084 Shares in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) Acquired by Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich acquired a new position in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm acquired 1,084 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 2,224,345 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 870,449 shares during the last quarter. Clifford Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in GSK by 14.3% during the 3rd quarter. Clifford Capital Partners LLC now owns 409,669 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $16,747,000 after buying an additional 51,378 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in GSK by 61.8% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 433,628 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $17,728,000 after buying an additional 165,556 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in GSK by 20.0% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 500,495 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $20,460,000 after buying an additional 83,433 shares during the last quarter. 15.74% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lowered shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $53.00 to $39.50 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of GSK in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating for the company. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, GSK currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $43.25.

GSK Trading Down 2.1 %

NYSE:GSK opened at $39.47 on Wednesday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $81.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.58. GSK plc has a one year low of $31.72 and a one year high of $45.93. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $35.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.10.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping 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%. Sell-side analysts forecast that GSK plc will post 4.14 EPS for the current 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 $0.3932 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.57 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.98%. This is an increase from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. GSK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 98.74%.

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.