Primecap Management Co. CA Acquires 10,407,905 Shares of GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

Primecap Management Co. CA raised its holdings in shares of GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) by 70.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 25,261,660 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,407,905 shares during the period. Primecap Management Co. CA’s holdings in GSK were worth $854,349,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. increased its stake in shares of GSK by 73.8% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 711 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co boosted its holdings in GSK by 200.0% in 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 during the last quarter. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in GSK in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its holdings 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 worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in GSK in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Institutional investors own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

GSK Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of GSK stock opened at $40.30 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $83.53 billion, a PE ratio of 25.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.58. GSK plc has a 1-year low of $31.72 and a 1-year high of $45.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.52.

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

GSK Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.3932 per share. This is a boost 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 3.90%. GSK’s payout ratio is 98.74%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of GSK in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.