GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) Holdings Raised by Essex Financial Services Inc.

Essex Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) by 18.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,599 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 1,008 shares during the period. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in GSK were worth $223,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of GSK by 8.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 29,008,928 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,185,885,000 after acquiring an additional 2,224,345 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of GSK by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,576,930 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $759,425,000 after buying an additional 870,449 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA raised its stake in shares of GSK by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 14,853,755 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $607,222,000 after buying an additional 342,365 shares in the last quarter. Provident Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of GSK by 1.7% in the third quarter. Provident Trust Co. now owns 3,953,602 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $161,623,000 after buying an additional 66,765 shares during the period. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in GSK by 30.8% during the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 3,542,143 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $144,803,000 after buying an additional 833,080 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

GSK Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:GSK opened at $36.59 on Friday. GSK plc has a 52 week low of $31.72 and a 52 week high of $45.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.78. The company has a market cap of $75.82 billion, a PE ratio of 23.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.64. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $34.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $37.50.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $0.59 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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, research analysts expect that GSK plc will post 4.07 earnings per share for the current year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a $0.3932 dividend. This is an increase from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.30%. GSK’s dividend payout ratio is currently 93.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on GSK. StockNews.com upgraded shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of GSK in a research note on Wednesday. They set an “equal weight” rating for the company. Guggenheim lowered shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft downgraded GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $53.00 to $39.50 in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.25.

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.