Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Boosts Holdings in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) by 3.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 116,737 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,342 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in GSK were worth $3,948,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of GSK. Sunbelt Securities Inc. boosted its position in GSK by 73.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 711 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 302 shares in the last quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co lifted its stake in shares of GSK by 200.0% in the 4th quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 750 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of GSK during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its position in shares of GSK by 195.5% during the fourth quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 789 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 522 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in GSK in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on GSK shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $53.00 to $39.50 in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of GSK in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, GSK has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $43.25.

GSK Stock Performance

Shares of GSK opened at $37.59 on Friday. GSK plc has a 12 month low of $31.72 and a 12 month high of $45.92. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $34.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.26. 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 cap of $77.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 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, beating 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 anticipate that GSK plc will post 4.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be paid a $0.3932 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 21st. This is a positive change from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.18%. GSK’s payout ratio is currently 98.74%.

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.