Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Trims Holdings in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lessened its stake in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) by 63.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 207,374 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 357,560 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in GSK were worth $7,013,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. United Bank raised its stake in GSK by 7.3% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 25,785 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,054,000 after buying an additional 1,760 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of GSK by 137.2% during the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 19,795 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $809,000 after acquiring an additional 11,448 shares in the last quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in GSK by 42.8% during the third quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,886 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $322,000 after purchasing an additional 2,365 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in GSK by 6.1% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 112,395 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,595,000 after purchasing an additional 6,468 shares during the period. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its stake in GSK by 6.7% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 66,645 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,724,000 after purchasing an additional 4,204 shares during the last quarter. 15.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on GSK. StockNews.com raised shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on GSK in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating for the company. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.25.

GSK Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:GSK opened at $39.54 on Friday. GSK plc has a fifty-two week low of $31.72 and a fifty-two week high of $45.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The company has a market cap of $81.94 billion, a PE ratio of 24.86, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.58. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $36.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.06.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $0.59 earnings per share (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 anticipate that GSK plc will post 4.14 earnings per share for the current year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.3932 per share. This represents a $1.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.98%. This is a positive change from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. GSK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 98.74%.

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.