Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. Raises Position in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. grew its holdings in shares of GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) by 32.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,623,203 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 398,433 shares during the quarter. Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. owned approximately 0.08% of GSK worth $54,897,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in GSK by 8.6% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 235,348 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $9,052,000 after purchasing an additional 18,539 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its position in GSK by 195.5% in the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 789 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares during the period. Green Alpha Advisors LLC raised its position in GSK by 17.7% in the fourth quarter. Green Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 27,316 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $924,000 after purchasing an additional 4,107 shares during the period. Fiduciary Alliance LLC purchased a new position in GSK in the fourth quarter valued at about $390,000. Finally, Brookstone Capital Management raised its position in GSK by 19.8% in the fourth quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 31,701 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,072,000 after purchasing an additional 5,244 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on GSK in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating on the stock. StockNews.com raised GSK from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Hsbc Global Res raised GSK to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, BNP Paribas started coverage on shares of GSK in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $35.25 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $40.58.

GSK Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of GSK stock opened at $36.63 on Monday. 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 firm has a market cap of $75.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.51. GSK plc has a fifty-two week low of $31.72 and a fifty-two week high of $45.93. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $37.65 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.97.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The pharmaceutical company reported $1.13 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.08 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $10.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.52 billion. GSK had a return on equity of 48.59% and a net margin of 8.13%. GSK’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.43 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that GSK plc will post 4.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.4216 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This is a positive change from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.69 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.60%. GSK’s dividend payout ratio is 86.60%.

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.