GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) Shares Purchased by Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its stake in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 147,585 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after buying an additional 516 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in GSK were worth $5,794,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of GSK. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of GSK by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,777,695 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $65,883,000 after purchasing an additional 18,585 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in shares of GSK by 1,598.7% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 2,582 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $96,000 after buying an additional 2,430 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of GSK by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 64,336 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,451,000 after buying an additional 602 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in shares of GSK by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 117,503 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $4,355,000 after buying an additional 3,722 shares during the period. Finally, Avantax Planning Partners Inc. purchased a new position in GSK during the 4th quarter valued at about $200,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

GSK Stock Down 2.0 %

GSK opened at $40.80 on Friday. GSK plc has a one year low of $33.67 and a one year high of $45.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a current ratio of 0.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 0.66. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.70.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The pharmaceutical company reported $1.09 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.00 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $9.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.49 billion. GSK had a return on equity of 51.48% and a net margin of 12.87%. Analysts anticipate that GSK plc will post 4.15 EPS for the current year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be given a dividend of $0.3843 per share. This is an increase from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. This represents a $1.54 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.77%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 16th. GSK’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 54.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of GSK in a report on Thursday, May 30th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $47.00 target price on the stock. Berenberg Bank raised GSK to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on GSK from $52.50 to $53.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Citigroup upgraded GSK to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, Barclays upgraded GSK to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have issued a buy rating and four have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, GSK presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.00.

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.