Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Has $491.52 Million Position in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD reduced its position in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) by 10.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 11,465,413 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,353,545 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned about 0.55% of GSK worth $491,523,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in GSK. Magnetar Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of GSK by 17.3% in the first quarter. Magnetar Financial LLC now owns 1,651,754 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $70,811,000 after purchasing an additional 244,075 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC grew its stake in GSK by 93.3% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 55,978 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,399,000 after buying an additional 27,015 shares during the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in GSK during the first quarter worth approximately $92,000. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of GSK by 9.1% during the first quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 3,078 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $132,000 after purchasing an additional 257 shares during the period. Finally, Cloverfields Capital Group LP lifted its holdings in GSK by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Cloverfields Capital Group LP now owns 21,647 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $928,000 after purchasing an additional 435 shares during the last quarter. 15.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

GSK Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GSK traded up $0.17 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $40.03. The stock had a trading volume of 1,182,171 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,496,980. 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 company has a market capitalization of $82.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 0.64. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $40.79 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.42. GSK plc has a fifty-two week low of $33.67 and a fifty-two week high of $45.92.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.94 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $9.34 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.98 billion. GSK had a net margin of 14.62% and a return on equity of 51.54%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that GSK plc will post 4.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 11th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th were paid a $0.3762 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. This is a positive change from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. This represents a $1.50 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.76%. GSK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 54.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on GSK shares. UBS Group cut GSK from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of GSK in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $47.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of GSK from $52.50 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of GSK to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, Citigroup raised GSK to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $50.00.

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.