Brookstone Capital Management Sells 1,027 Shares of GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

Brookstone Capital Management trimmed its position in shares of GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) by 3.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 26,650 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 1,027 shares during the quarter. Brookstone Capital Management’s holdings in GSK were worth $1,142,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new stake in GSK during the 4th quarter worth approximately $92,281,000. Armistice Capital LLC boosted its position in GSK by 670.5% during the 4th quarter. Armistice Capital LLC now owns 2,196,000 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $81,384,000 after acquiring an additional 1,911,000 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of GSK by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 15,065,558 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $558,330,000 after acquiring an additional 1,465,165 shares in the last quarter. Provident Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of GSK by 53.6% in the fourth 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. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. acquired a new position in GSK during the third quarter worth $45,114,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on GSK shares. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of GSK in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $47.00 price objective for the company. Guggenheim raised shares of GSK from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Citigroup raised shares of GSK to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Berenberg Bank upgraded shares of GSK to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. One investment 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.00.

GSK Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of GSK opened at $38.50 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $79.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 13.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.66. 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 plc has a 52 week low of $33.67 and a 52 week high of $45.92. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $42.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.20.

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

GSK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 11th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a $0.3762 dividend. This represents a $1.50 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This is a boost from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.36. GSK’s payout ratio is presently 53.26%.

About GSK

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.