Freedom Investment Management Inc. Increases Holdings in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

Freedom Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) by 9.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 11,717 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after acquiring an additional 999 shares during the period. Freedom Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in GSK were worth $396,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GSK. Dodge & Cox grew its holdings in GSK by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 68,440,912 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,314,672,000 after buying an additional 353,749 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in GSK by 82.1% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 52,823,032 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,786,475,000 after purchasing an additional 23,814,104 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its holdings in shares of GSK by 70.1% during the 4th quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 25,261,660 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $854,349,000 after purchasing an additional 10,407,905 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of GSK by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,836,797 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $637,061,000 after purchasing an additional 259,867 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mondrian Investment Partners LTD increased its holdings in shares of GSK by 17.6% in the fourth quarter. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD now owns 5,838,384 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $205,920,000 after purchasing an additional 874,004 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on GSK shares. StockNews.com lowered GSK from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of GSK in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Finally, BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of GSK in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $35.25 price objective for the company. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $40.58.

GSK Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:GSK opened at $36.52 on Tuesday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $75.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.97, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.56. GSK plc has a 12 month low of $31.72 and a 12 month high of $45.93. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $37.44 and its 200 day moving average is $36.05.

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 return on equity of 48.59% and a net margin of 8.13%. Research analysts predict that GSK plc will post 4.14 EPS for the current year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st were issued a $0.3932 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This is a boost from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.31%. GSK’s dividend payout ratio is presently 100.63%.

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.