Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. Makes New Investment in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. acquired a new stake in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 6,162 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $264,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in GSK. Nomura Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in GSK by 40.0% in the fourth quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 118,834 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,404,000 after buying an additional 33,979 shares during the last quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of GSK during the 4th quarter worth about $401,000. Napatree Capital LLC purchased a new stake in GSK during the fourth quarter worth approximately $730,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in GSK in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,031,000. Finally, Leo Wealth LLC purchased a new position in GSK in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $885,000. 15.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

GSK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of GSK in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $47.00 target price for the company. Guggenheim raised GSK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, GSK presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $47.00.

GSK Stock Performance

NYSE:GSK traded up $0.30 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $40.96. 1,475,555 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,555,917. GSK plc has a 1-year low of $33.67 and a 1-year high of $45.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a 50-day moving average of $42.55 and a 200 day moving average of $41.00.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.15. GSK had a net margin of 14.62% and a return on equity of 51.54%. The business had revenue of $9.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.98 billion. Research analysts anticipate that GSK plc will post 4.11 EPS for the current year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a $0.3762 dividend. This is a boost from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. GSK’s payout ratio is currently 53.26%.

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.