Flputnam Investment Management Co. Buys New Shares in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

Flputnam Investment Management Co. bought a new position in shares of GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 5,402 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $200,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in GSK. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in GSK by 6.9% in the third quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,346 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $158,000 after purchasing an additional 281 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its stake in shares of GSK by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 6,462 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $234,000 after buying an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC grew its position in shares of GSK by 3.3% during the first quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC now owns 9,367 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $342,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. KCS Wealth Advisory increased its stake in shares of GSK by 1.5% in the third quarter. KCS Wealth Advisory now owns 21,391 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $775,000 after buying an additional 314 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BSW Wealth Partners raised its holdings in GSK by 5.2% in the first quarter. BSW Wealth Partners now owns 6,345 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $226,000 after acquiring an additional 316 shares in the last quarter. 15.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently weighed in on GSK. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of GSK from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. Guggenheim upgraded GSK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Citigroup raised GSK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on GSK in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. They issued an “equal weight” rating for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”.

GSK Trading Down 0.8 %

GSK stock opened at $39.28 on Friday. GSK plc has a 1 year low of $33.33 and a 1 year high of $43.84. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $41.94 and its 200-day moving average is $38.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.88. The company has a market cap of $81.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.05, a PEG ratio of 1.83 and a beta of 0.64.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 31st. The pharmaceutical company reported $0.72 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.76 by ($0.04). GSK had a return on equity of 51.45% and a net margin of 16.24%. The business had revenue of $10 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.79 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that GSK plc will post 4.02 earnings per share for the current year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 23rd were given a $0.3564 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 22nd. This is a positive change from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.43 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.63%. GSK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 52.82%.

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.