Graney & King LLC Makes New Investment in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

Graney & King LLC bought a new position in shares of GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 2,249 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock, valued at approximately $76,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its position in shares of GSK by 73.8% in the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 711 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 302 shares during the last quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co increased its position in GSK by 200.0% in the 4th quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management Co now owns 750 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in GSK during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in GSK by 195.5% in the 4th 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 during the period. Finally, Sierra Ocean LLC acquired a new stake in GSK in the 4th quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

GSK Price Performance

Shares of GSK stock opened at $38.65 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $80.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.31, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 0.58. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.80. GSK plc has a one year low of $31.72 and a one year high of $45.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.52.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last announced 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%. On average, analysts expect that GSK plc will post 4.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, April 10th. Investors of record on Friday, February 21st will be given a dividend of $0.3932 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 yield of 4.07%. GSK’s dividend payout ratio is 98.74%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on GSK. StockNews.com raised GSK from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on GSK in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. They set an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Seven investment 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.com, GSK currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $43.25.

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.