GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) Shares Sold by First Affirmative Financial Network

First Affirmative Financial Network reduced its stake in shares of GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,707 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 652 shares during the period. First Affirmative Financial Network’s holdings in GSK were worth $233,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd grew its holdings in shares of GSK by 71.3% in the first quarter. JTC Employer Solutions Trustee Ltd now owns 21,141,012 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $909,063,000 after purchasing an additional 8,800,822 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA grew its stake in shares of GSK by 13.9% in the 2nd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 14,511,390 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $558,689,000 after buying an additional 1,773,020 shares during the period. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD increased its holdings in shares of GSK by 37.8% during the 1st quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 5,510,840 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $236,250,000 after buying an additional 1,512,442 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of GSK by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 15,036,881 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $557,267,000 after buying an additional 1,436,488 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in GSK by 180.0% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 2,219,798 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $95,129,000 after acquiring an additional 1,426,935 shares during the last quarter. 15.74% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group downgraded GSK from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, July 8th. Barclays upgraded shares of GSK to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Citigroup raised shares of GSK to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of GSK from $52.50 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of GSK to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $50.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Plc Gsk acquired 2,791,930 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $8.00 per share, with a total value of $22,335,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 16,775,691 shares in the company, valued at $134,205,528. This represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 10.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

GSK Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of GSK stock opened at $38.83 on Friday. GSK plc has a fifty-two week low of $33.67 and a fifty-two week high of $45.92. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $41.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.38. The stock has a market capitalization of $80.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 0.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.82.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The pharmaceutical company reported $1.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.09. GSK had a net margin of 12.87% and a return on equity of 51.48%. The company had revenue of $9.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.49 billion. Equities research analysts predict that GSK plc will post 4.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a dividend of $0.3843 per share. This is an increase from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $1.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.96%. GSK’s dividend payout ratio is 55.80%.

GSK Company 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.