SBI Securities Co. Ltd. Makes New $1.14 Million Investment in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor purchased 33,576 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,136,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co boosted its holdings in GSK by 200.0% during 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 bought a new stake in GSK during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of GSK by 195.5% during the 4th quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 789 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 522 shares during the last quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its holdings in shares of GSK by 73.8% in 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. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in shares of GSK in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,000. 15.74% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

GSK Stock Up 1.0 %

GSK opened at $37.97 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 stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $35.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.20. GSK plc has a 1-year low of $31.72 and a 1-year high of $45.92. The stock has a market cap of $78.70 billion, a PE ratio of 23.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.64.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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, research analysts expect that GSK plc will post 4.14 earnings per share for the current year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.3932 per share. This represents a $1.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.14%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. This is a boost from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. 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.