GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) Shares Sold by Calton & Associates Inc.

Calton & Associates Inc. decreased its holdings in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) by 3.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,468 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 275 shares during the quarter. Calton & Associates Inc.’s holdings in GSK were worth $363,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of GSK by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 15,065,558 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $558,330,000 after purchasing an additional 1,465,165 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its position in shares of GSK by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 12,089,370 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $448,032,000 after purchasing an additional 30,600 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in shares of GSK by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,079,897 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $292,896,000 after purchasing an additional 389,871 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in shares of GSK by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 7,551,555 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $273,744,000 after purchasing an additional 156,480 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Provident Trust Co. boosted its position in shares of GSK by 53.6% in the 4th quarter. Provident Trust Co. now owns 3,716,830 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $137,746,000 after purchasing an additional 1,297,385 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GSK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Berenberg Bank upgraded GSK to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Citigroup upgraded GSK to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on GSK in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $47.00 target price for the company. Finally, Guggenheim upgraded GSK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, GSK currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $47.00.

GSK Stock Performance

NYSE GSK opened at $38.50 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $79.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.95, a PEG ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.66. GSK plc has a fifty-two week low of $33.67 and a fifty-two week high of $45.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.87.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 1st. The pharmaceutical company reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.94 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $9.34 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.98 billion. GSK had a return on equity of 51.54% and a net margin of 14.62%. On average, equities analysts forecast that GSK plc will post 4.11 earnings per share for the current year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 11th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be paid a dividend of $0.3762 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.91%. This is a positive change from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. GSK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.26%.

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.