GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) Shares Purchased by Lake Street Advisors Group LLC

Lake Street Advisors Group LLC boosted its holdings in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) by 24.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,298 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,637 shares during the period. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC’s holdings in GSK were worth $284,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in GSK by 73.8% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 711 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co lifted its stake in GSK by 200.0% during the fourth quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 750 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in GSK during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its stake in GSK by 195.5% during the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 789 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new position in GSK during the fourth quarter worth $32,000. 15.74% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

GSK Stock Up 0.8 %

GSK stock opened at $37.59 on Friday. GSK plc has a twelve month low of $31.72 and a twelve month high of $45.92. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $34.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.64.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $0.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.15. GSK had a return on equity of 48.59% and a net margin of 8.13%. As a group, equities analysts expect that GSK plc will post 4.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $1.57 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This is a positive change from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. GSK’s dividend payout ratio is 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.