Savant Capital LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK)

Savant Capital LLC raised its holdings in GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) by 44.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,126 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,504 shares during the period. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in GSK were worth $275,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of GSK by 8.3% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 29,008,928 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,185,885,000 after purchasing an additional 2,224,345 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in GSK by 4.9% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 18,576,930 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $759,425,000 after acquiring an additional 870,449 shares in the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA grew its stake in GSK by 2.4% during the third quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 14,853,755 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $607,222,000 after acquiring an additional 342,365 shares in the last quarter. Provident Trust Co. grew its stake in GSK by 1.7% during the third quarter. Provident Trust Co. now owns 3,953,602 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $161,623,000 after acquiring an additional 66,765 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC grew its stake in GSK by 30.8% during the third quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 3,542,143 shares of the pharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $144,803,000 after acquiring an additional 833,080 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

GSK Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of GSK opened at $36.59 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $75.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.02, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.78. GSK plc has a fifty-two week low of $31.72 and a fifty-two week high of $45.92. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $34.42 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.41.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The pharmaceutical company reported $0.59 earnings per share 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, equities research analysts forecast that GSK plc will post 4.07 earnings per share for the current year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The firm 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 $0.3932 dividend. This represents a $1.57 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.30%. This is a positive change from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 21st. GSK’s payout ratio is presently 93.08%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

GSK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $53.00 to $39.50 in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. StockNews.com raised shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of GSK in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. They issued an “equal weight” rating for the company. Finally, Guggenheim cut shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock 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.