Fmr LLC Purchases 2,224,345 Shares of GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

Fmr LLC raised its position in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) by 8.3% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 29,008,928 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,224,345 shares during the period. Fmr LLC’s holdings in GSK were worth $1,185,885,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in GSK. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of GSK by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,576,930 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $759,425,000 after purchasing an additional 870,449 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in GSK by 61.8% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 433,628 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $17,728,000 after buying an additional 165,556 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in GSK by 20.0% during the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 500,495 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $20,460,000 after buying an additional 83,433 shares in the last quarter. Nwam LLC purchased a new position in GSK during the third quarter worth about $625,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in GSK by 8.4% during the third quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 736,510 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,973,000 after buying an additional 56,843 shares in the last quarter. 15.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

GSK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $53.00 to $39.50 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Guggenheim cut GSK from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Argus upgraded GSK to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Barclays upgraded GSK to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.25.

GSK Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of GSK stock opened at $34.02 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.51 billion, a PE ratio of 22.09, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.66. GSK plc has a 1-year low of $32.83 and a 1-year high of $45.92. The business has a 50-day moving average of $37.73 and a 200 day moving average of $40.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.53.

GSK Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.3928 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This is a boost from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.57 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.62%. GSK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 99.35%.

Insider Activity at GSK

In related news, major shareholder Plc Gsk bought 2,791,930 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 27th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $8.00 per share, for a total transaction of $22,335,440.00. Following the acquisition, the insider now directly owns 16,775,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $134,205,528. The trade was a 19.97 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 10.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.