Sierra Ocean LLC Takes Position in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in shares of GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 939 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $32,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in GSK in the third quarter worth $26,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. lifted its stake in GSK by 73.8% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 711 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares during the period. Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 500 shares during the period. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in GSK in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Concord Wealth Partners raised its holdings in GSK by 231.8% in the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 783 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 547 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

GSK Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:GSK opened at $36.59 on Wednesday. GSK plc has a 1-year low of $31.72 and a 1-year high of $45.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $34.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.41. The company has a market capitalization of $75.84 billion, a PE ratio of 23.02, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.64.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last released its quarterly earnings data 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, equities analysts expect that GSK plc will post 4.07 EPS for the current fiscal year.

GSK Increases Dividend

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

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.