Insider Buying: GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) Major Shareholder Purchases 2,791,930 Shares of Stock

GSK plc (NYSE:GSK) major shareholder Plc Gsk acquired 2,791,930 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $8.00 per share, for a total transaction of $22,335,440.00. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 16,775,691 shares in the company, valued at $134,205,528. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Large shareholders that own at least 10% of a company’s stock are required to disclose their transactions with the SEC.

GSK Trading Down 1.4 %

NYSE:GSK traded down $0.58 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $40.30. The company had a trading volume of 3,120,440 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,555,531. GSK plc has a 1 year low of $33.67 and a 1 year high of $45.92. The company has a market cap of $83.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.81, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a 50-day moving average of $41.57 and a 200 day moving average of $41.58. The company has a current ratio of 0.82, a quick ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

GSK (NYSE:GSK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The pharmaceutical company reported $1.09 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.00 by $0.09. GSK had a net margin of 12.87% and a return on equity of 51.48%. The firm had revenue of $9.95 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.49 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that GSK plc will post 4.17 earnings per share for the current year.

GSK Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 10th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be given a dividend of $0.3843 per share. This represents a $1.54 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.81%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 16th. This is a positive change from GSK’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.38. GSK’s payout ratio is presently 54.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group downgraded shares of GSK from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. Barclays upgraded GSK to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Berenberg Bank raised GSK to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of GSK from $52.50 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 2nd. Finally, Argus upgraded GSK to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have given a buy rating and four have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On GSK

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Register Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of GSK in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of GSK in the second quarter valued at $37,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of GSK in the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. PrairieView Partners LLC acquired a new position in GSK during the 2nd quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Triad Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in GSK during the 2nd quarter valued at about $49,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 15.74% of the company’s stock.

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.